Power to the Pout
by mistressplant
Summary: Contains gratuitous FreddyKatie banter. And future snogging which means kissing for the nonBritish folks. Spread the FreddyKatie love! COMPLETED
1. Chapter 1

My first school of rock fic. Enjoy!  
  
He watched her bite her lip with that pensive expression on her face. They were allowed to practice playing during their breaks in the school's music room. She stood at her usual spot by the window, her back leaning on it; he could watch her inconspicuously from where he sat, behind his drums. Her fore and index fingers continued to strum the bass, her rhythm perfect, but you could tell what was on her mind was the farthest from the instrument she was holding. She had always been like that; silent, stoic, extremely talented and astonishingly beautiful. She usually only speaks when spoken to, and politely and passively always. Unless provoked, which is where he comes in.  
  
He remained oblivious to her as he walked closer. When he was near enough, he pulled out one of his drumsticks from his collar and used it to flip the hair cascading down her shoulders. Her hair smelled like apples and he caught himself smiling uncontrollably.  
  
"Freddy, quit messing around," Katie said with a flippant wave of her hand.  
  
He looked at her gravely before clearing out his throat. "Katie, darling, I am not here to --," he puts up both hands and makes quotation marks in the air, "mess around. I came here to tell you something. Your playing has become, at least in my opinion, a matter of grave concern."  
  
Katie raised her left eyebrow.  
  
"I believe you've become rather robotic. Where is the passion? The feeling? The profound arduous relationship between you and your bass guitar? The deep love for rock and roll? The 'sticking to the man' with fiery pitchforks of G's?" he finished dramatically with his hands gesticulating as if he were reciting 'I Have A Dream'.  
  
Katie merely snorted. "Whatever you're smoking? I want some of it."  
  
"I'm serious. I might have to report you to Dewey," he said with a playful glint in his eye.  
  
"Fine, Mr. Jones. My playing is not robotic. You see, I'm not like you. I do not need to "feel" every single note or beat I'm playing. And in your case "feel" is just a euphemism for 'trying to remember the next thing I'm going to play' since you have the attention span of a teacup. My playing is second nature to me; it's called talent. Look it up." Katie finished with a bass solo she has been working on and a pout on her mouth.  
  
"Ouch." He squint his eyes and grabbed his chest as if someone had just poked his heart with a bread knife.  
  
"Don't RSVP if you can't come to the party." Katie gave him a wink and turned her attention back to her bass.  
  
He walked back to his drum set with a defeated hunch on his shoulder. Well, not really. He didn't mind getting shot down by the clever Miss Brown all the time, if it means having her complete, undivided attention for a few heavenly minutes.  
  
As he sat back on his stool, he watched her. She had the same pensive expression on her face once more, the brown pools of her eyes mistier than it ever seemed. If only he could guess what she was thinking.  
  
He continued watching her, completely abandoning the thought of practicing some of the songs for himself. It wasn't as if she noticed anything, she was too immersed in her thoughts. The only other people in the room were Lawrence and Summer and they were busy catching up on advanced reading ("Whatever that means," he thought.) He heard the bell ring at the back of his head and he knew she did too as her head shot up so suddenly as if woken from a reverie. She placed her bass guitar in its leather case, and was about to slide it over her shoulder when Freddy caught the leather strap with his hand.  
  
"I'll take that for you," he said beaming down at her.  
  
"Oh thank you kind sir, I couldn't possibly have carried that darned heavy thing over the threshold all by my teeny, helpless self," she teased.  
  
"Shut up. Can't I do something nice for once without having you mock me?" he said with an apparent hurt in his tone.  
  
"Aww, did I hurt poork ickle Freddiekins feelings?" Katie said, giving him that pout again. Damn Dewey for teaching her that pout.  
  
"Yes, you did. I might never recover. The only way you can make it up is," Freddy pointed to his lips.  
  
Katie just rolled her eyes. "Some other lifetime, Jones."  
  
"Come on you guys, we're going to be late," Summer called back to them as she and Lawrence made their way to the door.  
  
"Well, you heard the man," Freddy said with a sigh. Katie playfully swatted his arm before hooking her own over it. She was pressed so near him and he wondered if she felt him tense up.  
  
~0~0~0~0~0~0~0~0~  
  
A/N: Needless to say, the sole purpose of this fic is to share some Freddy/Katie love. There has got to be more Freddy/Katie shippers out there! Come one you guys, show the love! Feed me fics! Cause as much as I love to write, when it comes to fanfics, I love to read more. Anyway, some snogging might be called for in the coming chapters ( 


	2. Chapter 2

Freddy sat at the bottom of the stone steps of Horace Green Secondary School waiting for Katie to come out of the building. He had her bass guitar slung on his back, samurai style. They had separate classes that afternoon and he had insisted on carrying it for her until the end of the day. She didn't say it but he knew she was glad to rid of the weight on her shoulder at least for three hours. Anything for Katie, he supposes. He fiddled with the button that was pinned on the guitar case's strap. Stamped on it was the cover of The Beatles' 'The White Album'. He could hear her voice in his head, "Everything these days came from either the Beatles or Elvis!" The memory made him chuckle.  
  
The throng of people was becoming thinner as the minutes passed by. "Where the hell's that girl?" he thought They were supposed to walk together to Dewey's house for band practice, as they always did on Friday afternoons, along with Summer, Zach, Lawrence, Tomika, Marta and Alicia. He had told them to go on ahead and he and Katie would just follow.  
  
Just as he turned his head to check, the oak doors of the school flung open violently and a flushed Katie sprinted down the stairs as if running for her life, her brown hair flying with the wind behind her.  
  
"What's the rush?" he began to ask but was cut short when she grabbed his arm, pulling him to run with her.  
  
"Quick! He might catch us!" she muttered inbetween breaths.  
  
"Who?" Freddy asked as he tried to match her stride.  
  
"Katie! Freddy! There you are!" came a voice from behind them. He knew that voice too well, that Diana Ross inspired voice.  
  
"Aw, crap," he heard Katie mutter beside him.  
  
Billy ran up to them, if you could call it running. His chest stuck out, his butt stuck out and practically everything about him stuck out, with the exception of his hair which was properly glued to place.  
  
"Hi Billy," Freddy said waving his hand as he turned to face him. Katie did the same with much less willingness.  
  
"I told you to wait for me at the lobby! I have samples!" Billy scolded her, one hand resting on his hips, the other holding up a brown paper bag. "And good thing I saw you," he continued, jabbing a finger at Freddy's chest rather flirtatiously, "cause I made samples in your size."  
  
"Oh great, I could just die," he said with the expression of someone who had just been told he had syphilis.  
  
"Take me with you," Katie whispered.  
  
Billy who either pretended not to hear them or really did not ("Might be the mousse getting into his earlobes again," Freddy thought) proceeded to rummage inside the brown bag.  
  
"You know Billy," Freddy started, "you should really consider making samples for the other band members, it's always us. And don't get us wrong. We love your designs, very much but blatant favoritism isn't very popular among rock bands. Why don't you make some, for say, Lawrence?"  
  
"Are you kidding me?! Lawrence has love handles! You two are like my Barbie and Ken!" he exclaimed, then looked Katie up and down, "except Barbie doesn't have manly hips."  
  
Katie's mouth exploded into a big O shape. "I do not have manly hips!"  
  
Billy ignored her protests and turned his attention to Freddy giving him a most toothy grin. "Meanwhile, you're perfect."  
  
Katie was still seething beside Freddy. He snorted when he heard her mutter under her breath, "Manly hips? Wait 'til you see my manly fists you little twerp."  
  
"Here it is! That's for you Katie!" Billy proclaimed excitedly. He handed Katie an orange leather jumpsuit. Its cuffs and collars were lined with red fur with glittered tips and the back had graffiti art sign "School of Rock" He felt Katie's forehead hit his shoulder.  
  
"Do you think if we bash his head with your bass, he'll die?" Freddy whispered near her ear.  
  
"Yes, but it'll ruin my bass," she answered.  
  
"Fair enough."  
  
"And for you, Mr. Jones," he handed him a purple velvet muscle shirt that only had buttons from the mid shirt down and what appears to be Jasmine's pants from the last production of Aladdin.  
  
Billy beamed at them with anticipating eyes. "Well, try them on!"  
  
"It's orange leather!" Katie sounded as if she was about to cry.  
  
"Hello? Are you dreaming? We can't afford leather, that's pleather for your information," Billy explained calmly.  
  
"It's horrible!"  
  
"I know! Pleather is so tacky! But leather's way out of our budget," he complained, flailing his hands in the air and stomping his feet on the ground like a sixth grade girl who was just told she can't go the next NSync concert.  
  
Katie shook her head. "No, I mean it's horrible!"  
  
Billy raised his eyebrows, "It's fabulous! Orange is the new pink!"  
  
"It'll make me look like a gay hunter on game season!"  
  
"Really? Cause this one will just make me look gay. I say we switch, yours gets more attention," Freddy said while examining the Ali Baba pants.  
  
"You don't understand taste! I'm just wasting my fairy given talent on you two!" Billy snatched the clothes from their hands looking genuinely pissed and began to walk away. Mind you, he walked like he was on the runway and in a Vera Wang gown.  
  
"Now I feel horrible," Katie moaned. She looked at Freddy with questioning eyes.  
  
"It's up to you," he said.  
  
"Arrgh! Billy! Wait! We'll try it on!"  
  
"Told you to trade that conscience of yours for a bigger pair of boobs a long time ago," Freddy smirked. Katie introduced him to her manly fist.  
  
~0~0~0~0~0~0~0~0~0~0~  
  
"Ready?"  
  
"On the count of three?"  
  
"One..."  
  
"Two..."  
  
"Three!" Katie pushed away the shower curtain separating her and Freddy. One look at each other and both were sent to a heap of giggles.  
  
The two of them were in the bathroom of Dewey's and Ned's apartment, fitting Billy's latest creations. Katie took to the tub while Freddy was by the sink.  
  
"You look priceless," Katie managed to churn out.  
  
"It must be all the shimmering. Meanwhile, I have to disagree with Billy. You do *not* have manly hips," he said, his eyes examining her carefully.  
  
Katie was unperturbed. "Yes, my hips are fabulous," she laughed, twirling around.  
  
"Can you even breathe in that thing?" Freddy asked, seeming a bit concerned.  
  
"Ugh, barely. I think I'm going to have to slice this thing open," she said.  
  
"You mean peel you? Like an orange? See that's a happy thought right there," he said with a malicious smile.  
  
"Ewww. God, Freddy buy a 'Playboy' or something and stop fantasizing about the nearest breathing female. Who is usually me, by the way," she fumed, throwing the orange boots that came with Billy's outfit at him.  
  
"Stop pretending that you don't like it. Everybody wants me," he said, chuckling.  
  
"Okay, say that again, in front of a floor length mirror and see just how funny that sounds with those gay cucumber pants on," Katie said, winking at him before she pulled the curtains separating them once more.  
  
"They're very hot gay cucumber pants, you know!" he shouted over the shower curtain.  
  
"Whatever," she replied.  
  
Katie began the long, grueling task of removing the orange pleather jumpsuit. Freddy could hear a series of "Aaahs!"'s "Ouch!"'s "Holy crap!"'s and "Damn you Billy!"'s from the other side of the curtain. Freddy was adjusting the belt buckle of his jeans on when he heard her cry.  
  
"Shit!"  
  
"What?" Freddy asked.  
  
"I'm stuck, damn zipper at the hips won't budge," she answered.  
  
"Need help?"  
  
"No, don't come in here!"  
  
"Katie, c'mon. I've seen you more naked."  
  
"No you haven't!"  
  
"Yes I have. That first time Billy made us outfits, and we should've killed him back then by the way, we changed in the same cupboard," he explained.  
  
"We were ten! That was different," she reasoned.  
  
"Trust me, I wasn't thinking ten," he said, biting his lip to suppress a grin.  
  
There was a silence.  
  
"Katie?"  
  
"Do you have any idea how repugnant you are?"  
  
"Yes, and you still love me."  
  
Katie pushed open the shower curtain. She had on a red and pink striped bra and the jumpsuit pulled down to her hips. "Only because I wouldn't be caught dead wearing this suit and you are never going to see me this naked again you dirty. Little. Boy."  
  
"Yeah, yeah, turn around," he said, pushing her by the shoulders.  
  
He places his hand on the small of her back. "Steady," he whispered. He pulled the zipper down slowly, her skin flushed red.  
  
"You okay?" he asked.  
  
"Fine," her voice was rather windy.  
  
"Almost there," he assured. He pulled it down to just above the top of her underwear.  
  
"There," he said, almost inaudibly. His fingers brushed the back of her waist lightly. He hoped it seemed like an accident. He saw the goosebumps rise on her nape.  
  
"Yeah, I suppose I can take care of myself from hereon," she said without looking at him.  
  
"Of course, I'll go join the guys now. Give you your privacy," he said biting his lip.  
  
"Okay," she answered, still not facing him.  
  
"Right."  
  
Freddy locked the door on his way out. He let out a breath that he seemed to be holding the moment he saw Katie with just that red and pink striped bra. His hands still shook. Tonight is going to be full of happy thoughts.  
  
A/N: Can you see that I love tension? Meanwhile, there is still not enough Freddy/Katie fics out there! Where is the love?! And thank you so much for the reviews! R/R! 


	3. Chapter 3

"I've finished it!" Dewey exclaimed emerging from the reggae themed curtain divider of his makeshift room where he had locked himself up for the last half hour. He was wearing a 'The Clash' t-shirt that hasn't seen the light that is the washing machine for at least four days. 

Tomika, who stood between Marta and Alicia, eyed him suspiciously. "Did you eat my turkey sub again?"

Dewey stared at her with a dazed look on his face, scrunched his nose and shook his head. "What? No! I finished the lyrics, to the song!"

"Which song?" Zach asked.

Summer, who was busy scrawling something on her clipboard, clicked her tongue at him. "You should really pay more attention Zach. It's not as if he has talked about anything else for the last two weeks. The song you've been practicing that still didn't have a title or lyrics?"

"What Summer said," Dewey confirmed.

"So?" Freddy asked.

Summer rolled her eyes and clicked her tongue once more. "So? So we run it through! Like what we do everytime one of you writes a song? Honestly, you'd think that by now you've mastered the ropes!" she said with a tone of exasperation. She waved her clipboard at him for emphasis.

Zach snickered. "Chill, Summer, Chill!"

"I think that's why her parents called her Summer, she's hotheaded and rough as sand," Freddy joked.

Summer eyed the two boys malignantly. Dewey stepped in. "Okay, before Summer swallows her clipboard, why don't we get this thing going? Everyone in position! Where's Katie?"

"She hasn't come out of the bathroom yet," Lawrence explained.

"She's been in there for, what? Ten minutes?" Summer pondered.

"Thirty if you count the time she was in there with Freddy," Alicia surmised.

Everyone turned their heads to Freddy suspiciously. 

"What?! I didn't do anything!" he cried defensively.

Dewey gave him the eyebrow waggle, "Somehow, I highly doubt that."

Freddy turned beet red. "We just went in there to try on some stuff Billy made. She's probably still trying to recover from the horror that is "Billy's Creations." And besides," he sat up regaining his composure, "I would never hurt Katie. She's like a long lost cousin to the sixth degree of consanguinity who I constantly hit on."

"You just described fifty percent of my experience with women right there," Dewey added. 

"Dude, that's very disturbing," Freddy answered. 

Katie came out of the bathroom just then closing the door behind her with a subtle click. She was still holding the orange pleather jumpsuit.

"Are you planning to enter the 'World's Fanciest Death row Convict' contest?" Dewey asked pointing to the suit in her hand.

"What? Oh! Billy," she said with a slight smile as if 'Billy' explained everything. It actually did. Freddy noticed that she seemed rather disoriented. It was either she was sweating furiously or she had just dunked her head in a pail of water.

The top two buttons of her shirt were loosened and her neck tie hung undone around her neck. There was a tiny rivulet of sweat (or water, Freddy couldn't tell) clinging to the base of her throat. It slid downwards and his eyes followed it as it caressed her soft tan skin. It disappeared just above her chest and he couldn't help but be envious of the tiny bead.

"Freddy stop ogling at your cousin," he heard Dewey say.

"What?" Katie asked, looking at him funny.

"Nothing, go to your bass," Dewey told him.

"So just play the parts I've taught you and I'll be doing all the singing," Dewey continued, "know what we're talking about, Katie?"

She nodded.

"Good, anyway the song's called "Arguably Freesize,"" he looked onto them for reactions.

"What the hell kind of title is that?" Freddy asked.

"A clever one, now shut up and play," Dewey demanded.

Freddy shrugged and began beating on his drums, Zach, Katie and Lawrence soon fell to their parts.

Dewey cleared his throat and began to sing.

"I was once in a store,

I had jockstraps to score

And the sales chick with the auburn hair

Told me she got an offer to sell

A two for one special

On the freesize

She's sure I would save

My pennies tonight

Now I'm here trying to fit it in

But the jockstraps won't hold all my nads on

Tell me what's the use of free size!

If it can't keep me free tonight!

Tell me how's it fair that free size?

Isn't so free for my size?"

Dewey finished by clapping his hands together and bowing to them like a Zen master. 

"What the hell was that about, Finn?" Freddy demanded.

"I'm sorry to say Dewey, but that was kind of, well, odd," Zach said looking still confused.

"Odd? Wash your ears out Zach! It's about the trials and tribulations of an overweight man in a weight obsessed society!" Dewey flailed his hands upward in frustration.

"I think it's catchy," Summer beamed at him.

Freddy snorted. "Sorry Summer, but your opinion ceased to matter when you bought and Avril Lavigne CD."

"That's actually a valid argument, sadly," Dewey agreed. "But Tomika, come on my big sistah, you gotta be with me on this."

Tomika looked at him as if he had just asked her to give up her braids and just shave her head. "I'm with you on the message, not quite sure about the jockstraps."

"Lawrence?"

"I am not too pleased to hear about your jockstraps," he said robotically.

"Alicia? Marta? Zach? Katie?" 

The rest of them just shook their heads and looked away.

"You are the worst bandmates ever!" Dewey screamed and retreated back to his room.

"I think he was drunk when he wrote that song," Katie mused.

Alicia made a face, "I say he still is."

A loud thump was heard behind the curtains then an "Ooomph!" followed by silenced which was soon replaced by snoring.

Zach turned to Summer, "So what does little miss clipboard say?"

Summer looked at him meekly, "Take five?"

~0~0~0~0~0~0~0~0~0~0~0~

Freddy walked leisurely beside Katie; he was walking her home. Band practice was cut short that afternoon due to the fact that their lead singer passed out but not before he threw an artistic tantrum of sorts. "How very rock star-ish," he thought. The wind was chilly; he could almost feel the winter coming. He looked at Katie; she had her head tilted upwards, hands inside her jacket pocket and appeared to be gazing intently at some heavenly body.

"Watch where you're going," he warned her.

"The moon's so full…and orange," she said not minding him.

"Orange seems to be the theme of the night," he said.

"Why are you walking me home?" she asked out of the blue.

"I always walk you home."

"Yes, I know that. I just never bothered to ask why."

"Why ask now?"

"Just answer the question," she said rather impatiently.

"Well, to protect you I suppose. There are a lot of psychos out there, you know," he answered hesitantly.

"What kind of sexist twaddle is that?" she said, looking at him disapprovingly.

"Well, what did you want me to say?"

"Nothing, never mind," she said, looking up at that darned orange moon again.

Freddy stared at her. Then a smile crept up his face.

"What?" Katie asked looking at him peripherally.

"You wanted me to say that I liked spending time with you or some other smarmy line like that? Didn't you?" he said knowingly.

"I wanted no such thing," she said a little too quickly to be convincing. 

"Looks like someone needs a little validation; I have an idea, why don't you come by my house tonight and we can make out on my parents' bed? I promise to blather out some nonsensical flattery like 'You're beautiful' or 'Wow you've got a great ass' every now and then," he continued to tease. 

"Shut up." She turned and gave him a sock to the chest.

"Katie, if you wanted to touch me, you don't have to make excuses. I won't stop you," he said stopping in front of her and holding his arms out as if motioning her to come closer.

Katie brushes past him, pushing him with her hand and walks ahead of him. "Shut up, Jones."

He strode to her side once more. "Shut up? You can't say 'Shut Up' twice as a comeback? Is this for real? Katie Brown is comeback-less?" 

"I'm just tired," she says, blushing slightly.

Freddy grinned at her. "Am I growing on you?"

She turned to him and said, "Like a nasty smelling fungus."

"Still doesn't change the fact that you want me. Admit it. I mean, how can you not? I'm beautiful. I'm so hot I have to grab my own ass," Freddy was smirking madly at her. 

"You're hopeless."

"And you're in love with me."

He had expected her to tell him to shut up one more time, but instead she stopped, rather abruptly. She faced him and closed the space between them. He could feel the heat in his body rise. He's never been this close to her. Or saw her face at such an angle. He noticed how long her eyelashes were and how they looked like butterfly wings when she blinks. Her eyelids fall over her chocolate brown eyes in a half-mast. He imagines if she was wondering about his lips, just as he is longing for hers right now.

"What would you do, if I am?" she says, lowly and breathily and this makes the back of his knees tingle. Her breath smells like peppermint.

"I, um--," he begins but her mouth is slightly open, distracting him, inviting him. 

She purses her lips together and he feels as if his knees are about to buckle. She bites her lower lip and he wonders if she has any idea just how fascinating that seems to him. A sound emerges between her lips; a chortling of sorts. 

"I can't hold it anymore!" Katie bursts out, pushing him away from her. She was bent over her knees, laughing.

"You should've seen your expression!" she blurted. Her face was red with amusement.

Freddy, who was still quite agitated only managed to say, "That's not very nice."

"Like you were very nice to me this whole time?" she said raising an eyebrow.

"That was teasing, you were very mean," he tells her.

"Oh come on. You're not going to hold that against me, are you?" a more composed Katie asks.

"No. But it still was mean," he says in a joshing hurt tone.

"You're just pissed that I've upped you one again," she says, her hands on her hips.

"Fine, you're cleverer than I am," he says. He flings an arm around her shoulder and walks them together, "Let's get you home before you get anymore ideas."

"Hmm, if I tell you to come to my room tonight in leather bondage, would you?" 

"Only if you promise to wear that orange pleather. I like that on you," he says with a wink.

"It might look better on you," she ponders.

"Nah, I don't have the hips for it."

She laughs. He likes her laugh. He notices that it sounds more subdued than it was when they were little, more womanly. He's been noticing a lot lately. He turns his head to look at her, the moon flatters her skin. And he's still thinking about her slightly open lips.

 "Well, here we are," she says. She turns to him and lifts the strap of her guitar case from his shoulder. "Thanks for the walk, and good night." 

Katie was already up one step of their apartment building when she turned to him and kissed him on the cheek, very close to his lips, he noted. And he wondered if she had noticed too.

A/N: I just wonder if anyone notices that I'm making this up as I go :D I have no betas, all mistakes are mine. And how come no one is writing more Freddy/Katie fics? I want them! Email them to me people! Wah! (And I've just noticed, there is no School of Rock fanfiction yahoogroup. There should be one! FFNet can be so inaccessible at times! What do you think?)

Meanwhile, thank you so much to the reviewers (I haven't received flames! Hee!)

Princess642 – where are those cookies?

Wiseoldman – oh thank you! I'm glad you thought they were realistic. I hope the kids were not overly smart for their age. (I've just noticed that I've failed to mention that they fall somewhere between fifteen and sixteen in this story)

Meara – thanks! Erm, I like writing banter (like Austen much :D) so I'm afraid I can't follow your advice! Hope you like this chapter though!

Joanne – thanks! And here you go!

Blondie0276 – thank you too! 

FunkieChick – thanks! I'm glad you thought they were both in character. That's what I wanted to go for, as I think they are both already kick ass kids, we just need to explore on that. Also, I'm trying to write this fic with a lighter mood, I've noticed a lot of dramatic fanfics with kidnappings and abuse and such. I just want the characters to have fun and not torture them so much. Oh please do post your Freddy/Katie fic! (And please email me if you do: rockmyplant@yahoo.com)

Dolly – yay, another Freddy/Katie fan! Rock on!

ILRO – No, not British, but not American either. I'm just used to British English, as opposed to American slang. I'm going to add a note on the summary. Thanks!

Legend and Tempo – thanks very much! I love me some slash too.

Illyria09 – Thanks! You should try your hand at writing if you want, writing fanfiction is a good way to improve ^_^

Caitie – thanks!

hP fAn Fo LyFe – thanks! And emailed you ^_^

audi katia – thanks for the review! This is actually exactly how I view Freddy, rather crude and badass, but charming over all.

sum1veryspecial – thanks! Here's more ^_^

ash – thanks! Unfortunately I have not seen either of the films you've mentioned so I can't write fanfics for them! I'm sorry.

Eeep, my thanks yous have taken up a page! Well, hope you enjoy this chapter. R/R!


	4. Chapter 4

Disclaimer: NOTHING IS MINE! They all belong to Mike White, and the producers at dear god, I forgot which film outfit.

Anyway, here it is Chapter Four:

Freddy held on to his bottle of champagne, which he had nicked from the chiller in his father's office, so tightly that if he had squeezed a millimeter more, his hands would be swathed in shards of glass and blood. The yellow synthetic light bathed his naked chest. He felt hard marble floor beneath the soft Persian rug that lay around him like a mass of screaming rock devotees. His eyes rest on the gold trimmings that lined the ceiling. They were angels, beautiful golden angels who hung uselessly, with no other purpose than aesthetics. How could they be so beautiful when there was so much ugliness? 

He heard the pitter patter of feet coming nearer and nearer, and thought how threatening the gradual increase of its volume sounded. The feet now stood just above his head and he could smell the apples and he was rest assured. She bent down, straightened the seat of her skirt and sat on her calves, and moved her face closer to his obliterating the yellow chandelier lights from his eyes. The smell of apples on her hair became stronger and he closed his eyes to bask in it. She had called him earlier and said that she was going to drop by his house to 'hang'. "Hang is such a stupid word," he had said, "why don't you just tell me you're coming to gawk at my angelic face and my god-like body."

"What're you doing?" Katie asked him.

"I'm contemplating on the difficulties and quandary of life," he said, his eyes still closed.

"You realize that you're lying on a thousand dollar Persian rug and that's a bottle of Cristal on your hand?" she asks sardonically.

"Security and happiness does not lie on the material possessions alone," he answered.

"And it's easy to overlook security and happiness when you insist on just considering yourself and refusing to look around you," she replied, flicking his nose in the process.

This time he opened his eyes and looked up at the warm pupils of her own. "Why must you always contradict me?" 

"Because you don't see how lucky you are. You walk around all day depressed as an empty bottle of Prozac as if the world has cast all its problems on you and to be absolutely honest it's rather annoying," she answered.

"Isn't depression an artist's prerogative?"

She tilted her head to the side in a thoughtful expression and finally said, "When you're young and everything dramatic is exciting, you start to believe that hype that, in order to be an artist, you have to suffer. I've graduated from that school."

"I didn't know you were a Lauryn Hill fan," he mused.

"I didn't know you were either. But she makes perfect sense, doesn't she?" She crawled to his right side, lay down next to him and rested her head on his outstretched arm. She didn't seem to mind that he was half-naked and clad only in his black boxer shorts. "I lied; I haven't graduated from that school."

"Technically, you weren't lying; you were just quoting Lauryn Hill. So what's bothering you?"

"A boy," she said lowly.

"Want to talk about it?" he asked her calmly although the pinch in his heart said otherwise.

"Not really," she said.

"Okay." 

Silence took over them and for a long while the only noise there was, was breathing. His breathing, for that matter, which sounded quicker and airier than usual. If that was the case, she didn't seem to notice. 

"You know, Lauryn Hill hasn't come up with anything lately. Maybe that's what happens when you graduate from the school, you run out of material and drop off the face of the planet," Freddy mused.

The weight on his arm stayed still and he thought perhaps that she had fallen asleep but when he had turned to look, her eyes were wide open, her eyelashes seemed to be curled in attention. He followed her gaze.

"My mother wanted those angels there. To protect me from evil, I think," he volunteered.

"It must be nice to be so beautiful," she said as if he hadn't said anything.

He looked at her intently. "You are beautiful."

"Freddy, can we rest from the semi-flirtatious crap for a while? It's getting a bit tedious," she said with a snicker.

"What's so semi-flirtatious about telling you you're beautiful? I mean I'm just stating a fact. Was Einstein flirting with the entire scientific community when he told them that e=mc2?" he said without removing his eyes from her face. She had reddened a bit and he wondered if she does that every time someone gives her compliment or just when he does.

"Fine," was all she said.

"Fine what?"

"Fine, thank you," she said, finally turning to face him.

And once again he was awed by her slightly parted lips. If he had his wits about him last night he should've kissed her, it didn't matter that the entire ordeal was a prank on her part. If he had kissed her she probably would've forgotten about that nonsense, because the kiss would be good. Good, he thought, that would be an understatement. It would be magnificent, fireworks, pyrotechnics, blowing up of cars and buildings, the whole ten yards; he could tell that just by looking into her eyes.

She held his gaze, as if she had read what he thought and was now challenging him to put his thoughts into action. Yes, he thought, now would be as good a time as any. It was perfect really, the light was just right, not blaring, the champagne in his hand was cool, the room was warm, very warm indeed, she was beautiful and he was, well, naked. He couldn't think of a better scenario.

And yet somehow his neck refused to budge. He really did try very hard to will it to just move forward and just kiss her, but it was stuck like a stupid, rusty hinge that hasn't been used for centuries. He felt the perfect moment slip by him; in slow onerous motion nonetheless and too soon it became just an awkward moment. 

Katie bit her lower lip and sat up. "It's really warm in here," she proclaimed, fanning herself with her hands.

"Yeah, well the heating system is busted. So it's like Hawaiian tropical in here," he explained.

"You want to go take a walk outside? It's cooler out," she asked him.

"We could just wade our feet in the pool," he suggested.

She considered this for a moment before finally shrugging, "Okay." 

"Hold on a sec, I'll go put on a shirt," he said as he stood up.

"Why? We're only going to your indoor pool?" 

"Seriously Katie, you have to stop getting me to walk around naked and objectifying me. You're taking advantage of my innocence," he said while posing as if he were in a bodybuilding pageant.

"You're an idiot," she mouthed.

"Is that code speak for take off your boxers?" 

Katie punched his arm which earned her a sincere "Ouch!" from Freddy. She turned her heels and walked towards the door. "I'll be lounging in your pool, if you need me."

~0~0~0~0~0~0~0~0~0~

Katie swirled her naked foot on the water's surface creating ripples around her biggest toe. Ever since they were kids, before the whole shebang with Dewey happened, she would hang out at Freddy's house just so she could use the pool. Although he would like to think that she was fond of him too back then, not just the pool. 

"Temperature's just right," she said, smiling at him as if she was a nine year old kid and he just handed her a bag of candy.

She removed her other boot and was about to sit down when she thought better of it. She turned to Freddy with what looked like a naughty glint in her eye. "You know, this waddling thing's kinda stupid. Why don't we just take a swim?"  
  


"Did you bring your suit with you?"

"No," she answered looking pointedly at him. She began to unbutton her blouse.

Freddy gulped, "You know just yesterday you were so uptight about me seeing you in your underwear?" He could feel the sweat coming out the pores of his forehead.

"Mind's change," she purred. That's what they call it right? When you could hear that little meow underneath the words? She purred. Katie purred. He gulped. Then she dropped her blouse on the floor. He had never been so upset about anticlimax.

"Or maybe it's because you decided to wear your grandmother's drawer's today?" he asked sarcastically.

"Sorry to disappoint you," she said with a giggle, "I was planning on going to the park to run a bit after this, but I thought, nah, what the heck, I'll just let you stare at me all day."

"If you really wanted to do me a favor, wear a little less clothes," he said with all seriousness.

"Only if you get an A in chemistry."

"You always have to have the last words don't you?"

"Yes." She blew him a kiss before diving into the pool. He had to take note that despite the fact that she was wearing track shorts and a tank top, he could still see her curves. Granted that she was not voluptuous, as actresses in the fifties were disposed to be, she wasn't so thin either, like actresses in the now are disposed to be. She was just right, really. And when he thinks about everything about her is just right. Not perfect, but right.

Her head emerged right smack in the middle of the pool. She smoothed her wet hair away from her face and called to him. "Well? Aren't you going to join me?"

He answered by jumping wrapped like a cannon ball into the water splashing water all over Katie's face. 

"Bastard!" she screamed at him but she had a large grin on her face. She began to splash water on him with her hands and they started a rather innocent, juvenile water fight. 

Katie was moving towards Freddy when she suddenly cried, "Aw, crap!" and looked as if she was checking to see her feet.

"What?" Freddy asked the creases on his forehead showing worry.

"I think I stepped on something," she told him.

He swam nearer her until she could put her arm around his shoulder. He checked to see what she stepped on and saw what appeared to be a dismembered plastic doll lying serenely underneath the light waves.

"That must be my sister's Barbie," he said.

"I think Barbie's are the bane of my existence," she said in an incensed tone.

"Sorry about that," he said, looking at her. She was holding onto her leg with one hand, looking over her shoulder and checking her feet, while her other hand was wrapped around Freddy's shoulder.

"No biggie," she said. 

But this time she looked at him. At the right moment. Her hair hung limply around her, but her eyes were bright. They shone, like they would when she's playing her bass in front of a mad cheering audience. Except now, there was no bass, no audience. There was just him. And her. And her hair hung limply around her and her eyes were bright. And she looked at him at just the right moment.

"It's just a kiss," she said, her voice light and airy and it tickled his ear.

He bent down and touched his lips to hers. She tasted like water, like nothing but everything. For a moment, he couldn't say how long or how short, they just stayed like that, their lips touching, neither moving to deepen it nor stop it. 

She had both hands around him, her finger lazily tracing circles on his shoulder. She moved her lips away but not her hands. Their foreheads touched each other and he could feel his smile broaden.

"See? That wasn't so bad," she whispered.

And for the first time in his life he didn't feel the need to have something smart or snarky to say to her. He was there, what else needs to be said?  

A/N's: Again, no betas, all mistakes should be blamed on the ungodly hours. Thanks to a four day weekend, I am able to update regularly. Unfortunately that might not be the case in the next few weeks. But at least I didn't leave you guys with a cliffie ^_^  Though I think I'm going to have to stir a little trouble into the formula in the next chapter. Don't worry, I promise no clichés! Special kudos to funkiechick and starlitestarbrite who also write wonderful Freddy/Katie fics! You girls make my day! 

Thanks so much to those who reviewed. (AlannaBanana, Dolly, TheCheezHead, Illyria09, Princess642, Sara Sidle Stokes hP fAn Fo LyFe and Nessa's Ruby Slippers –Love, thanks so much for pointing out that little blunder! I suppose I was rather callous in writing the last chapter. Taught me to be a bit more mindful this time, as I should be since I have no betas!) Hope this one lives up to your taste :) 


	5. Chapter 5

Disclaimer: Once again, I own nothing.  
  
Freddy's mouth glided down Katie's neck. He liked that she doesn't wear perfume. She just smelled fresh, and clean, like a newborn's breath. He curled a strand of her hair around his finger. It was still wet. He had tried to sneak into her room earlier through the fire exit only to find her fast asleep, her face buried on her pillow. He waked her up by tapping a nickel on the windowpane. When she had come to (which took a while as she slept like an ancient artifact), she opened the windows for him and the only thing she had said was, "Who the hell wakes up before noon on a Saturday?" before hitting the showers.  
  
It had been a week since that first glorious kiss they had on the Jones' pool. And everyday he would sneak into her room just to get more. He had kissed girls before, dozens, it comes with the territory of being terribly attractive, he supposed. And he had liked kissing. But it was different with Katie. He liked kissing her. And smelling her hair and her skin. And touching her, everywhere, not just where boys like him usually liked to touch girls like her. And most importantly, he liked being around her. He liked who he was around her. It didn't really matter if he was the best of himself or the worst of himself; he knew it would be alright.  
  
He clamped his hands around her naked shoulders. She had come out of her bathroom clad only in a towel, apparently just to bring a change of clothes with her, but he had grabbed her and pulled her down with him on the bed, thus bringing him to the current situation. He suckled gently on the supple skin at the base of her throat before lifting his face to see hers. Her cheeks were a light shade of pink, as they usually turn when he kisses her more vulnerable spots. He placed a gentle kiss on her nose before returning to her lips, parting them with his tongue to search out hers. She moaned as he ran his tongue on the roof of her mouth. He liked the way she moans. It wasn't a "Fuck me now," moan, which strangely enough turns him off (which was probably why he never really subscribed to internet porn like Zach did) but more like a "I like that, you should do that again," moan; subdued, classy but straight to the point. Very much like Katie.  
  
Freddy's hand traced down her chest until he felt the curve of her breast. He tugged at her towel's knot and her hands began to push him way, and he didn't know why, but the act only made him tug harder and the knot loosened, exposing her to him. He felt around and cupped one hand around her breast and she trembled and jumped under his touch. It made him stop.  
  
He opened his eyes to see a slightly frightened Katie staring up at him. Tears were beginning to well up her eyes. A pang of guilt rose up inside him and he could barely look at her.  
  
"I'm sorry," he mouthed.  
  
Katie gave him a slight smile and mumbled something about putting on some clothes, she wrapped the towel tightly around her and gently pushed Freddy off her. As soon as she had entered the bathroom to change, he slapped his hand to his forehead, "Stupid."  
  
He sat on her bed, rubbing his hands together as if he was trying to keep himself warm, contemplating on what to tell her. After a few minutes she came out, wearing a plain white t-shirt and faded denims. She sat on the purple swiveling chair by her study desk, right across from him.  
  
"I was being a jerk," he pronounced as soon as she sat down.  
  
"Yeah, you were," she said, it seemed to him that she wasn't blinking.  
  
"I don't want you to not trust me. Or to feel unsafe when you're around me. I can't promise that I won't be doing slightly jerky things in the future, but I promise to never do what I just did," he said, meaning every word.  
  
Katie smiled at him, the smile she usually gives him when he knew he'd done something stupid and mopes by himself in a corner. "I know that, you don't have to tell me. Besides, I trusted you enough to not kick you in the nuts?"  
  
Freddy laughed at this. He closed the space between them and kneeled in front of her, taking her hand in his and kissing her palm. He caressed her cheek and kissed her lips. He ran his tongue on her lower lip but Katie pushed him away.  
  
"Katie, I'm really sorry about--," he began but she cut him off with a wave of her hand.  
  
"It's not that. It's just that Summer called me earlier, before you came. She's coming over around eleven. I just don't want her to think we were doing anything suspicious," she explained.  
  
"Why would she think we're doing anything suspicious?" he asked, his forehead creasing.  
  
"Oh, you know Summer. Always thinking things," she answered, starting to get flustered.  
  
"Let her think things then, we might as well tell her even. There's really nothing wrong with us making out. I mean, that's only normal for, --wait--, what are we?" It had only occurred to him just then that they haven't exactly established that fact. And it wasn't as if they'd gone out on a date. All they did was make out. All week. In the utility closet, behind the cafeteria, in the boys bathroom, in the girls bathroom, in the nurse's clinic, in the scientific journals section in the library where barely anyone goes, behind a tree, under the tree, on top of the tree and basically anywhere so long as it was empty.  
  
"Maybe we should put off telling people until we figure that part out," Katie suggested suddenly becoming interested in an invisible stain on her ash desk.  
  
He looked at her oddly, "You aren't, by any chance, embarrassed by me, are you?"  
  
Her head shot up at this, "Of course not! Don't be silly! I'm just saying that with everything going on with the band, we don't really need to pester them with, well, us."  
  
"It's not like we're asking them to watch us make-out!" he said, his tone beginning to rise.  
  
"Freddy, try to understand, I just want to keep this to ourselves. Please? I'm not ready to share us with everyone, just yet," she asked him pleadingly.  
  
He looked at her, she was giving him that pout that she had always known made his resolve a little weaker. She squeezed his hands tightly and a picture from last night crossed his mind; a picture of him wrapping an arm around her waist and her gently pulling away.  
  
"Okay," he agreed, at least he thought he did.  
  
She kissed him and he wasn't very sure how it felt.  
  
"You better go; Summer's going to be here any minute," she said as she pulled him towards the window.  
  
"What're you two doing today anyway?" he asked.  
  
"Buy stuff for Dewey's birthday tomorrow night," she said.  
  
"That's tomorrow?"  
  
"Yes, dummy. I can't believe you forgot," she said looking at him incredulously.  
  
"It's kind of hard to remember anything but you these days," he said, giving her the most dapper look he could manage. He climbed out of her window and from the fire exit, leaned in for another kiss.  
  
"The saccharine sweetness is starting to give me hives. Where's the old, crass Freddy Jones?" she joked, pulling him into a hug.  
  
"Right here, staring down your ass."  
  
"And suddenly I don't miss him anymore."  
  
He flicked her nose gently and kissed her one more time before going down the fire exit, carefully so as to prevent slipping down and cracking his head open so Katie wouldn't have to explain his dead carcass to Summer.  
  
Later that night, Freddy found himself sitting on Dewey's couch watching old episodes of The Price is Right, sandwiched between Zach and Lawrence. All the girls were amiss. Freddy guessed that they were all over at Summer's house, getting ready for Dewey's surprise tomorrow night.  
  
Just as the old lady wearing a rainbow colored cardigan guessed "One dollar" for an item that was obviously more than one dollar for the fourth time, Katie came bursting in through the front door.  
  
"I can't do it! Rolling bacon is just too complicated!" she screamed. She motioned Freddy to scoot over, sitting herself between him and Zach.  
  
"Pigs in a blanket?" Zach asked her.  
  
She nodded grudgingly.  
  
Freddy chimed in, "It's not really complicated; you just have stubby fingers."  
  
Katie punched his arm. "My fingers are perfect. I wanna see you try it."  
  
"I actually am a wonderful cook. I just don't like to get my hands dirty," Freddy said.  
  
"Right," Lawrence said without removing his eyes from the television.  
  
"I could make an exception, for you Katie," he said as he reached over to brush away a stray hair from her face.  
  
"I'll call you should I ever contemplate suicide then," she retaliated though she smiled as she bit her lower lip, and her eyes told him that she was looking forward to him cooking for her. Neither Zach nor Lawrence appeared to notice anything.  
  
"What I would like to know," Zach started, who seemed as hypnotized by the telly as Lawrence was, "is how you managed to make Summer let you go?"  
  
Katie stammered, "Well, Frankie came over and I asked him to be my replacement. Cooking is really tiring, not really my thing either. I needed to get out of there. And he's actually very good at rolling bacon."  
  
"She kicked you out, didn't she?" Zach asked knowingly.  
  
"Little wench said I was ruining the schedule," she confessed.  
  
"Poor Katie," Freddy said with a sympathetic tone, "made to feel inadequate because she can't roll bacon properly."  
  
Freddy put an arm around her and she flinched. She eyed him, and then looked at Lawrence and then Zach. He let out an exasperated sigh but removed his arm anyway.  
  
At that moment it was Dewey's turn to come bursting through the front door. He was shaved today, which suggested that he just went to see their elementary principal, Miss Mullins. They were still in the flirtation stage, four years later. Man, were they slow.  
  
"What're you four doing here?" he asked them, looking dazed.  
  
"Watching TV, man," Zach said.  
  
"How'd you get in?"  
  
"You never lock doors. You should lock your doors, man. There're a lot of assholes out there," Zach advised.  
  
"Why aren't you watching TV at your own houses?" he asked.  
  
Lawrence shrugged. "I don't know. It's just more fun here."  
  
"I get that. Where's everyone else?" Dewey continued to ask.  
  
"They're at Summer's, preparing for your surprise birthday party tomorrow," Freddy said matter-of-factly.  
  
"Tomorrow's my birthday?"  
  
"According to Summer's organizer," Zach offered.  
  
Dewey just pursed his lips and went, "Cool."  
  
"Don't forget to act surprised tomorrow night," Lawrence reminded him.  
  
"Don't worry, I can handle that," he assured him. He crossed the room and went over to his makeshift bedroom. Before he entered, he had one more thing to ask. "Did you invite Ross?"  
  
Lawrence looked at him perplexed before the name finally hit him. "Oh, Miss Mullins. Yeah, Summer asked me to call her. She said she'll be here tomorrow."  
  
"Excellent," Dewey said with a goofy grin on his face before disappearing behind the curtain divider. Thud, thump, snore.  
  
Freddy looked at his watch, it was only nine o-clock. He snickered.  
  
"What?" Katie asked, looking at him oddly.  
  
"I just thought that it's 9 pm on a Saturday night and the four of us are sitting on Dewey's couch watching 'The Price is Right.' I mean, how cool are we?" he said with a hint of irony in his voice.  
  
"Well, at least we're not out clubbing and getting stoned like every other teenage drone in New York?" she retaliated.  
  
"So by being lame, we're actually being punk?" Freddy said, twisting to his side to face her.  
  
"Exactly," she smiled.  
  
"I like your logic," he said.  
  
"Will you two shut up? It's the bonus round," Zach told them, still quite glued to the telly.  
  
"Is there no other channel on this TV?" Katie complained.  
  
"There is, but apparently this is Zach's and Lawrence's favorite show," Freddy explained.  
  
"I'm bored," she grumbled.  
  
Katie blew the bangs away from her forehead and rolled her eyes heavenward. She licked her lips, leaving them red and glistening like fresh strawberries. There was only one thing on his mind. He leaned in and whispered so that only she could hear, "Wanna make out in the kitchen?"  
  
Katie looked at him, incredulously at first. But then something changed in her eyes, like a red bulb lit in her head. She stood up and announced, "I'm hungry, gonna go raid the kitchen." She then turned and looked at Freddy pointedly, "you hungry?" before heading towards the kitchen.  
  
Hungry, in a thousand ways, he thought. He stood up, mumbled something like "yeah, food, starving," and followed her into the kitchen. Thankfully, neither Zach nor Lawrence followed suit; both still quite mesmerized by the TV.  
  
As soon as Freddy disappeared from the living room's view, Katie lunged at him, wrapped her legs around his waist and kissed his lips. She slipped a hand down his collar, rubbing his nape and his back. Freddy leaned them on the kitchen counter as she traced kisses along his jaw line and upwards. He felt her lips curl around his ear as her tongue slipped inside. He let out an involuntary moan.  
  
"Katie," he said breathily, as he held onto her waist tightly fearing that he might drop her, "you know that Zach and Lawrence are about five meters away from us?"  
  
"Don't worry, they can't hear us. The TV's too loud," she assured him as she ran a hand through the spiky blonds of his hair. She placed a kiss on his lips before she moved down to his throat, and flicked a tongue at his Adam's apple. Freddy groaned a little louder.  
  
"We," he started; it took him a little while to think of the next words he was going to say. It really is rather difficult for his brain to function when she's lightly scratching his stomach with her fingernails. "We might get caught," he finally sputtered out.  
  
"I know," she said as she kissed his lips once more, daring her tongue into his mouth.  
  
Freddy tore his mouth away from her (and how difficult it was to do that) and held her shoulders at arm's length. "This is turning you on, isn't it?"  
  
Katie grinned at him coyly. "Maybe."  
  
Freddy's smile broadened. He pushed her down the counter and climbed on top of her. They didn't get caught.  
  
A/N: This has been sitting for the last three days on my computer. I've lost my internet connection for days and that's why I wasn't able to check anything, reviews or what. But to those who reviewed, thank you so much! You guys rock! Shout outs to come next chapter when I'm not in a rush! I promise (so keep those reviews coming) And Lissie, I think offered to beta! I am going to take you up on that offer on the next chapter babe! (Actually, you can beta the previous chapters, if you want, and I'll just re-upload them, so the verb tenses won't piss off future readers *grin*)  
  
MEANWHILE a near and dear suggested I write NC-17 FREDDY/KATIE! *shock* *gasp* Okay, is it time to corrupt the SoR fandomness now? (to those interested, drop me a line)  
  
Hope you enjoyed the chapter! Tell me what you think! 


	6. Chapter 6

ANNOUNCEMENT!!! Okay, I didn't know so many people would be interested in an NC-17 Freddy/Katie fic. And guess what? I HAVE SUCCUMBED TO YOUR DEMANDS AND WROTE ONE! I created a yahoogroup for it, to possibly contain future fics of the same theme :D The full link is in my profile page, as ffnet is being a pain and not showing links. Bleargh.

Membership is currently for approval only, just to make sure the kiddies stay away from the evil link. I am inviting those who were interested, and those who **gave** their emails, to read it to the group

DISCLAIMER: I don't own anything. Everything belongs to Paramount. 

Chapter Six:

They were huddled together in complete darkness behind the couch and Freddy took this chance to tickle Katie's waist. She writhed at his touch and her muffled groans were music to his ears. She tried to slap his hand away in vain and so she settled with playing with him at his own game. She turned her head slightly and sinked her teeth in that juncture between his jaw and his neck. He let out something that was a cross between a snort and a moan. He began to kiss the side of her face, licking her skin, and she started to chortle earnestly. 

But their game was rudely cut short with a scolding from Summer who hid on the other side of the couch. "Whoever's making those noises, shut up!"

Freddy grimaced and he could feel Katie's shoulder shake in his arms as she held in the giggles. They both ceased to move however when they heard a pair of footsteps coming from outside the door. They sounded as if the owner was too lazy to lift his heels properly to walk and Freddy instantly knew that they belonged to Dewey. In the next minute, the door slammed open, the lights turned on and everyone popped out of their hiding places and yelled, "Surprise!" so loudly it almost sent Dewey into cardiac arrest.

"A surprise party for me?!" Dewey looked as surprised as someone with a two-week old appointment. Summer however bought it.

"Happy Birthday, Dewey!" she said as she walked closer to him, and handed him a gift wrapped in blue paper and all kinds of frilly bows.

"Thank you Summer," he said sincerely, placing a kiss atop her head. 

Everyone flocked to him giving him greetings and hugs. Miss Mullins handed him a tiny box wrapped in silver trimmings. He opened it eagerly. It was a wrist watch.

"So you won't be late next time," she said jokingly, well as jokingly as Miss Mullins could ever sound. 

Katie handed him their present next. "It's from the four of us," she explained, gesturing towards Freddy, Zack and Lawrence. 

Dewey opened the box and pulled out a black collared shirt. "Wow," he said unenthusiastically.

"You know, Jim Morrison once owned that shirt," Zack said in an impressive voice.

Dewey waggled his eyebrows, "Really now?"

"No, we actually bought it at Ralph Lauren at fifty off," Katie shrugged.

"Still Ralph Lauren," Lawrence added.

"Weren't you able to mooch off Summer's gift?" he asked them. The four shook their heads.

"Didn't I teach you anything? Sneak your names in there now while her back's turned!" Dewey encouraged them. They obliged with wide grins on their faces.

As soon as the four accomplished their mission they trotted over to where Dewey sat with Ned along with their other former bandmate Richard as they shared stories of their old unglamorous rock career. They sat and listened as Richard, Ned and Dewey fought over who had the craziest experience from their short lived rock band for the next two hours, occasionally taking the time to eat the pigs in a blanket (which Freddy had to admit were quite good) Frankie served them. Ned was in the middle of telling the story about how his satanic sex-god act landed him in a women's holding cell when Summer emitted a blood curdling scream from the next room.

"I think she found your names in the card," Dewey said.

"That's our cue to leave," Katie stated. 

"Coward!" Zach taunted her.

"Wanker," Katie replied with a calm smile, "anyway, we have class tomorrow."

Katie wished Dewey a happy birthday once more and hugged him tightly. She bid adieu to Ned and Richard. Freddy said that he wanted to leave early too as he needed to get some sleep. Zach and Lawrence were going to hitch a ride with Frankie who was still busy in the kitchen so they said their goodbyes to them as well.

As soon as they were in the street, Katie blocked Freddy's way, extending her hand on the iron railing of the steps, and kissed him. "I haven't gotten back at you yet," she said, smiling up at him.

"So you still want to play this game?" he asked her with a hint of impishness in his voice.

"It's a fun game," she teased and pulled him down the street by his scarf.

He complied and wrapped his arms around her waist, kissing her deeply. But she pulled away, leaving his mouth moist and wanting. 

"What's wrong?" he asked.

"I forgot that we're still right outside Dewey's apartment, someone might see us," she explained.

"Of course," he muttered disdainfully.

"Come on, let's go home," she said tugging at his hand.

But he didn't budge. "Katie, do you even like me?"

Katie looked at him as if he was a mental patient. "Of course I like you, now come on, it's late." 

But he still didn't budge. "Well, how do you like me as compared to, say, Zach?"

At first she seemed nonplussed at this question but then a bright smile dawned on Katie's lips. She moved closer to him and put her hands on his cheeks. "You're a very special boy to me, Freddy Jones," she whispered to him, her cold breath tickling the skin under his nose. She kissed him then very lightly but pulled away when he tried to deepen it.

~0~0~0~0~0~0~0~0~0~

It was a gloomy Monday morning, as Mondays always are, but it was made gloomier by the fact that the named gloomy day began with Calculus with the ever severe Mrs. Taft. Mrs. Taft was a woman in her fifties who dressed in suits of violent shades of purple, wore fake gold jewelry, had the temper of a fighting cock and looked like a chicken. That last bit was no exaggeration, in fact, if you trot to the biology laboratory, you will find a stuffed _Gallus gallus_ (the scientific term for the chicken) that could be mistaken for her long lost dead, albeit in better condition, twin. 

And so Freddy slumped on his desk and draggingly drummed his fingers on its oak surface looking as if a cloud of doom had settled upon his head, determined to remind everyone that today was gloomy. He sat at the farthest corner of the room, as he always did, both a conscientious and assigned position. He had always been a rowdy child, and these days a rowdy teenager, and teachers would most of the time rather pretend he was invisible by situating him where they could perpetually ignore him. This of course was in his favor as he never quite fancied being asked questions the answers to which he did not know, or opinions to matters to which he did not care.

The door slammed open and in walks one of his friends Leonard, who was quite possibly the coolest person on the planet. Leonard's uniform was as proper as the planets were aligned; his tie was neat, shirt ironed, shoes polished and he wore no jewelry. His appearance was practically a checklist for the school's guidelines. And yet his defiance to the rules shone in his eyes, and his individual beliefs strode alongside his walks. And he needs not spectacles or trumpets to show this. He was just in the most simple terms, innately cool. Freddy however knew he needed to work to be cool, and so he continued to sulk and simper as if the world had done him a great wrong. 

Leonard placed a manila folder, in an organized fashion atop a pile of manila folders threatening to fall over. The pile was a project for their teacher Mrs. Taft and it was to comprise fifteen percent of their grades for that quarter. She had specifically instructed that all projects should be by her desk not later than seven twenty-five in the morning, otherwise all hell was to break loose, he supposed. Practically everyone in the class had handed in their works, even though Mrs. Taft has yet to arrive, except for one. The clock above the blackboard said seven twenty-three and Freddy began to worry if Katie would make it in time. Although to others it would seem that he only did more sulking and simpering. 

A sharp something, like the ends of a broomstick, swished across his face. He looked up and sure enough it was Amy Bouvier's long, bottle bleach blond hair. She was still busy tossing it around with so much pride as if it had saved world hunger. She noticed that he was looking at her. She turned to him with a smile faker than Mrs. Taft's jewelry and said, "Sorry." 

"Don't worry, it was my pleasure to almost be physically maimed by your hair," said Freddy sounding dreadfully bored.

Just as he had expected, she had nothing to say. So she just gave him a fake smile. Amy was one of the few people in school who didn't belong to his original block. She didn't seem very real to him at first, not in Jennifer Lopez's sense of real, more like the sense that she seemed to have been manufactured in some secret Disney laboratory where they made plastic robots who smiled all the time. Amy, he figured was a prototype. Hopefully, one of these days, someone inside the secret laboratory would decide that they need to get her back to the drawing board and the world would be rid of her for good.

His thoughts were interrupted by a particularly peachy Mrs. Taft entering the room. She smiled at the class, something she rarely, or rather never, did and he prayed that smile meant a good thing. He doubted this of course and came close to believing that the smile meant she was going to pull out a chainsaw sometime in the middle of discussing summations and make mince meat out of them. 

It was just before Mrs. Taft sat on her chair that Katie came dashing through the door with her project in hand. In her rush, she bumped into the table, her hipbone receiving most of the injury. She winced as she placed her folder on top of the pile of manila folders, attempted a smile at their professor and briskly walked and sat on the desk next to Freddy.

"There was a malfunction at the subway, we were stuck there for ten minutes. Thank God I made it," she whispered to him under her breath.

Just as soon as the words left her mouth, Amy's hand shot up to the air. 

Mrs. Taft looked at her, "Yes, Miss Bouvier?"

"Well, Mrs. Taft, you told us last meeting that you won't accept projects handed in later than seven twenty-five?" she said innocently.

"I remember my own words, Miss Bouvier," she said irately though Mrs. Taft gave her full attention. Some of the other students stopped doing whatever personal thing it was they were doing and looked at Amy.

"Well, Katie handed her project in at seven twenty-eight, when you came in? I just don't think it's fair to the class if you accept her project, when all of us were responsible enough to be here on time?" she continued, her voice annoyingly saccharine. A silent shock greeted Amy.

Mrs. Taft seemed to consider this before she said, "Well, she makes a point Miss Brown, I'm afraid I can't accept your work." 

Katie's jaw dropped. This prototype had a mean streak. 

"I think I'll have to report this unbecoming behavior to your manufacturers at Disney," Freddy told her as menacingly as possible. 

Katie was on the verge of tears. At the very front row, Summer broke her pencil in two, Freddy could just imagine the expression on her face. Beside them, Frankie cracked his knuckles.

Freddy leaned over and rubbed Katie's back. "We'll talk to her later. I'm sure she'll understand."

Katie nodded though she didn't seem entirely convinced and continued to sniffle like a cat with a cold throughout the class. As soon as the bell rang, Summer (and everyone else) strode to where they sat. She grabbed Katie by the shoulders. "You can't just let that bitch get away with that!" And she knew that Amy could clearly hear them from where they stood and Freddy was certain Summer had meant for her to hear. 

"What do you want me to do? Ask her if she wants to go?" Katie said, tears still streamed down her eyes.

"I'll gladly ask her to go, I'm very good with catfights," Michelle offered.

"Wait, did Summer just say bitch? I thought you didn't swear," Zack mused.

"Not really the issue right now, Zack," Summer said, still quite miffed, "look, if you're not going to do anything about it, I am!"

Without a moment's hesitation, Summer walked to where Amy and her other plastic friend Rainbow Brite were talking.

"Summer," said Amy curtly.

"Amy," Summer responded calmly. And then the next thing happened as suddenly and as shockingly as lightning came and went. Summer slapped Amy so hard it left a red hand mark on her pink face.

"I may grade grub from time to time but you. You," Summer shouted so that everyone could hear, "are a crab! You are a vile, heartless, indecent crab and your clamps are as venomous and painful as your personality, if there is one!"

Amy just stood there and stared at her blankly. She was getting really good at the blank, vapid look it's almost slightly, infinitesimally interesting, Freddy thought.

"Summer Hathaway!" a female voice boomed.

Everyone turned to see their Literature teacher Miss Watts standing by the doorway, hands on her waist looking very vexed indeed. Apparently she came in just in time for the show.

"Miss Watts, I, uh," Summer stammered.

"She slapped me Miss Watts!" squealed Amy.

Summer turned to her again. "You little snitch!"

"Miss Hathaway," Miss Watts got her attention once more, "I am disappointed! I don't know what brought this on, but your behavior is appalling and you are not to be excused. Detention this afternoon."

Summer seethed, her eyes had a reddish glaze on it. She returned to her seat, head high and fixed her books with loud thumps and sighs. Miss Watts ignored the aggravated noises she made and proceeded to her lessons.

That afternoon the School of Rock crew and all, waited outside the detention room for Summer. Freddy had his legs stretched out on the floor with Zach and Lawrence the same on either side of him. Frankie was, as always, flanked by Eleni and Michelle beside them. Gordon and Marco stood by the fountain about five feet away with Billy flitting around them, but mostly around Gordon. Marta and Leonard leaned by the lockers in front of them, and Freddy could see how hard Marta was trying to woo Leonard, though the spell seemed to be working on her rather than on him. And in a huddle beside the two were Alicia, Tomika and Katie.

He could tell that the three girls were talking about something interesting although their voices were too low for him to hear anything. It was okay though, as he was quite content just watching her, a pastime he has never grown tired of and probably never will. She threw her head back, her laughter echoed down the hallway as Alicia said something. It was probably very funny, as Alicia was a funny girl, but he had no desire to learn what the joke was. He was just happy to see Katie throwing her head back in mirth, her neck arching backwards graceful as a woman's gloves. He badly wanted to touch her, to run his hand down her long graceful neck, to grab her by her waist and kiss her. But he knew she would resist, after all they were in everyone else's eyes. And the thought that he couldn't have as he pleased made his gut wrench. But the thought that it was because Katie still didn't want anyone to know about them made his heart burn.

"Stop staring at her man, girls don't like it when you act so desperate. Especially girls like Katie," Zach said, interrupting his thoughts.

"I wasn't staring, I was watching. I think she's used to me watching her anyway, so it really doesn't matter," he answered with his focus still on Katie.

"That's why you never get her," Zach joshed with a jab to his rib.

Freddy wanted to brag to him that he did in fact 'get' her. That they practically had sex on the kitchen counter the other night while he and Mr. Cool watched 'The Price is Right' in the other room. That she had told him last night that he was special to her. But something stopped him, a treacherous voice at the back of his head that told him that he really didn't get her. Because if he did, she wouldn't be on the other side of the corridor as if they were strangers, laughing with someone else instead of with him. She wouldn't push him away when he tried to kiss her deeper. She wouldn't be telling him to keep it secret. She would be the one here telling Zach to bugger off, because Freddy did have her and he could watch her for as long as he wanted.

And the argument was slowly being won at the back of his mind, but not just now, as Summer had come out of detention and everyone, himself included, eagerly anticipated her.

Leonard was first to clap and shout, "Woo-hoo!" as soon as Summer stepped out of the room. Frankie gave her a pat on the back that almost made her stumble forward. Zach exclaimed, half in mockery and half in sincerity, "You're beautiful!" And soon everyone was giving her hugs and high fives. The last hug belonged to Katie.

"You crazy bint! I can't believe you got detention because of me!" Katie said as she smothered Summer in a tight embrace.

"You failed to mention that it is the first detention I got. And you know how very special the first time always is," Summer replied as Katie let her go.

"But of course. Should I have to ask for your hand in marriage?" And at this the two girls giggled.

As they walked out of the school, Freddy inconspicuously grabbed Katie's arm and held her back, letting everyone else walk past them so he could talk to her without being overheard.

"Remember the first time you got detention?" asked Freddy when he was sure no one would hear them.

Katie furrowed her eyebrows in askance.

"It was because of me. In fourth grade, our teacher, Miss Wallace, the one with the moustache, said that if I put one more toe out of line she'd make sure I was kicked out of school. She was probably just threatening me, but we pretty much thought it was real. So there was this one time that I stole her keys, because I was a very stupid kid, and she was checking our desks. And then when she wasn't looking, you grabbed it from mine and put it in yours," he finished. The light in her face told him that she remembered.

Katie nodded and a small smile played on her lips. "You were such a brat. I don't know why we were even friends."

"Because I always hung around you. I suppose I've always been quite fascinated with you," he told her. 

"I'm pretty fascinating," she mouthed with a waggle of her eyebrows.

"Why didn't you just blow me off?" he asked, as if fishing around for an answer he'd been longing to hear.

"I don't know. You had a nice pool," she teased him.

"No, seriously," he said, there was a needy sound in his voice that he didn't like but he couldn't help.

"What's wrong, Freddy?" she asked, concern in her eyes.

"Can I kiss you? Right here?"

"We can do that later," she whispered, eyeing the others warily.

"Why can't we kiss now? In front of everyone?" he asked and there was a lump in his throat that he wanted to hide but he knew his voice betrayed him.

"Freddy, when I'm ready," she pled.

"When will that be?"

"I don't know," she seemed slightly in tears.

"Why don't you know?" he urged.

"Can we not talk about this now? I mean, we're having fun, aren't we? We have a wonderful thing going on. Let's not ruin it," she brought his hand to her lips and Freddy noted that the corridor was now empty.

He nodded and she kissed his nose. The lump on his throat was still there though. And it was there when they parted outside. And it was there when he got into bed. And it was there when he had fallen asleep. 

Author's Notes and Thank you's: Again, I have no beta, so all mistakes are mine :) I figured I might as well post this as I know it has been a while since I updated. 

Thank you so much to those who reviewed! This includes those who reviewed chapter four. Dolly, starlitestarbrite1, ThatJoeyKid, Nessa's Ruby Slippers, sum1veryspecial, sk8erGCpunkpnay (I've toned down the snogging a bit, hee), Kor, febpig, maria, Legend Tempo, kiephra, Sam, Leigh143, AlannaBanana, Lissie, audi katia, Illyria109, wiseoldman, Princess642, Draco-FutureBF, ahhhh, Bal8rokstar, Jane, hP fAn Fo LyFe, Phish Food (glad you liked my Katie), Lour, JustVisitingUKgirl, Jewelkitten, CassandraTheEvil, kevins_baby_girl04, goldilocksgirl, Blondie 0276, RockinBassGurl, Triforce of wisdom, chocol8chips, and waterbug7. I hope I didn't miss anyone, but if I did I am **SO** sorry! I will make it up to you with a one-shot Freddy/Katie :) 


	7. Chapter 7

**Disclaimer: **If I owned this, I would be making all these into a movie and forcing the characters to snog for real.

**Information on the Yahoogroup: **Again, the yahoogroup is for archiving adult fanfiction (READ: R-NC-17) It only has my story up so far, if you're interested. But if you want to post some, I am inviting you to post it on the group! The address can be found in my profile page 

**Author's Notes: **I'll be uploading beta-ed version of this and the last chapter soon-ish. Thanks to my wonderful beta **Lissie**who is loved. (By the way, you get a special fic request, meaning request me to write anything and I will.)

I hope you won't kill me after this. REVIEW! 

**Chapter Seven**

It would be a complete and utter lie to say that he didn't enjoy the time he spent with her. In fact, he would go so far as to say that every moment he had alone with her was a moment of pure ecstasy. And moments like this usually take place in his house on the upper east side, most only afternoons after school, but at this particular moment, on a Saturday noon, inside the room his mother personally decorated for him, on the thousand dollar Persian rug she got at Oriental Rug Gallery. 

While the sight of her laying next to him, the chandelier lighting her in ways that made his skin burn, as she recited her "Morrison is my god, he should've lived to meet and make sweet love to me" diatribe wasn't completely new, the part where he nibbled her ear, smelling the sweet scent of her skin, his hand splayed on her bare stomach underneath her t-shirt, gave it a much more exciting and pleasurable light.

"I mean really, he would've done the world much more good if he had lived. Our generation could've learned about him, his language, his art. Why did he have to…Freddy, are you even listening to me?" Katie asked. She turned her head to him, pulling her ear away from his mouth.

"Do I ever?" he answered with a smirk on his face.

"You of all people should get what I'm saying. You're as big a Doors fan as I am!" she cried as she swatted his arm with the throw pillow on her head.

"I am a Doors fan. But the difference between you and me, love, is that I don't want to have sex with Jim," he said. He ran his hand through his tousled hair.

"I do not!" Katie said rather defensively.

"Yes you do!"

"Do not!"

"Do too!"

"Do not!"

"Do too!"

"Do not! Now let's cut this crap before it stops being cute!"

"Fine. Well who do you want to have sex with then?"

"No one!" she answered all too quickly. A flush seemed to creep from her neck to her cheeks. It was a lot easier to get her to blush these days.

Freddy's smirk grew wide. "I should not have asked you that. I mean, to have to be fazed with that question in front of me, while I'm all shirtless and beautiful, how embarrassing for you?" he teased her. He flailed his leg over hers, his calves sliding up her thighs. 

"You are so full of your self," she said, raising her eyebrows though she was still quite flustered.

"And someday you'll be full of me too," he said callously.

"Ew."

"You say that now, but wait and see in the next few minutes," he continued to tease. 

Katie laughed nervously and tried to push him off with a purposefully weak force. He put his hand on her cheek and lowered his head to kiss her. The kiss quickly deepened as her tongue slipped between his lips and ran along the roof of his mouth, ticklish as a feather. Her mouth felt so hot and urgent underneath his that he was sure he'd bruise but he didn't quite mind. Her hands were wrapped around his neck, and he covered her length completely. He felt the quick rise and fall of her stomach against his. He wanted to feel her skin. He raised her t-shirt up to the underwire of her bra, the cold layer of moist on her stomach made their skins fuse. His hands were on either side of her hips, his thumb rubbed circles on her hipbone, making her moan into his mouth.

His excitement was getting harder to hide by the second, especially since he was wearing such thin clothing and it was impossible that she hadn't felt it by now. He pulled away reluctantly, not wanting to scare her. Her lips were swollen from the intensity of their kisses, her eyes shined with the light's reflection. There was a disappointed look to her face

"I think we should stop," he said, to himself as much as to her.

Katie sat up and pulled her knees to her chin. She averted her eyes upwards, focusing on the angels that flew in mock on the ceiling. Freddy pulled himself up as well, one leg folded towards himself, the other stretched out behind Katie. 

"I'm scared," she said offhandedly.

"Katie, give me a little credit, I'm not that big of an ass--," but he didn't get to finish his sentence for she already cut him off.

"Not of you, moron, I could take you any day. I'm scared of myself," she explained.

Freddy's nose wrinkled in confusion. "Why?"

Katie laughed, a small, forced, breathy laugh. "I can't believe I'm actually going to admit this, but you, you make me crave things I normally don't." 

Katie didn't turn to face him but he could see that the blush of red rose was on her cheek.

"Like what?"

"Do you really have to ask? God, it's just that I feel so out of control when I'm with you. I'm afraid I'm going to do something I'm not ready for. And then regret it later. And I don't want that feeling, not with you," she finished. 

A strand of hair limped forward over her face. Freddy reached over and tucked it away behind her ear. 

"You know, I do have control issues too," he began, he curled a strand of her hair around his finger absent-mindedly, "but the thing is, I know not to mess up a good thing. This is a good thing, I'm not about to blow it on a hard on."

"How very eloquent of you," she said sarcastically though he could tell the undertone of amusement in her voice.

"Hey, that's why I'm known for my good-looks," he quipped.

"Said your mommy," she replied.

"And you," he added.

"And Billy!" 

She stuck out her tongue at him and he caught himself laughing at his own expense.

"But you know," he started, looking very serious this time, "that I meant every word I said, even if they were the most crude and unromantic words in the world?"

Katie looked him in the eye, smiled and nodded. He kissed her, softly and slowly, her hands around her knees, his stroking her hair. Everything was alright within the confines of his Persian rug.

000000000

Freddy regretted going with Katie here. But he had wanted to spend the entire day with her. He had planned to spend the entire day with her. He just failed to include asking her to spend the entire day with him in the plan. 

So now he had to sit along with Katie, Summer, Marta, Alicia, Tomika, Michelle and Eleni around the coffee table in Summer's living room. Open Chemistry, Calculus and History books were strewn on the table, haphazardly sitting beside mugs of coffee, or peppermint tea if you're Eleni, open bags of M&M's  and Maltesers, pens and notebooks. The way the girls were throwing questions and bits and pieces of information, you'd think they were going to compete in an academic decathlon. 

"A group containing three carbon atoms and a double bond," Marta pronounced amidst the noise of scribbling and violent turning of pages.

The girls knew the drill and Tomika got to the punch first. "What is an allyl group," she answered the trivia without looking up from the notes on her lap.

Summer threw the question next. "What is chromatography?"

"A series of related techniques for the separation of a mixture of compounds by their distribution between two phases," Katie answered. She sounded distracted, as Freddy was playing the itsy bitsy spider on her thigh. He finally stopped when she stabbed the back of his hand with her pencil. It didn't puncture his skin, but it left a very deep lead mark on it. Freddy frowned at her, and Katie shot him a glare in return.

The group seemed too busy to notice their exchange. 

Michelle was up next. "The spatial arrangement of a molecule in space at any particular moment in time."

Eleni and Alicia answered at the same time. "Conformation!" The two girls caught each other's eyes and giggled. 

Freddy rolled his eyes. "I need a break," he announced to the group.

Summer raised an eyebrow. "You haven't opened one book and you already need a break?"

"I didn't come here to study," he shot back.

"Then don't eat the M&M's!" Summer scolded him.

"Hey! Katie brought those in," he protested.

"Katie?!" Summer turned to her best friend as if pleading her to pick her side.

"Summer, calm down. They're just M&Ms. Freddy, we'll buy some chocs later, so leave these alone," Katie said without stopping from writing on her notebook.

Summer stuck a tongue out childishly as Freddy.

"You need to get laid," Freddy recommended.

"Shut up!" Summer screamed. 

Katie stopped writing momentarily to punch his arm. "Stop baiting her."

That didn't stop Freddy. "Call Zack, he's easy. And he has the hots for you anyway," he finished with a smirk.

Summer turned red, looking as if she was filled with hot water. Katie punched his arm but he could see that she was biting down her grin. 

"Go take a break!" she commanded him.

Freddy obliged, but then he did something stupid. He turned to Katie and kissed her temple. Her face remained expressionless, but he felt her shoulders stiffen underneath his hand. When he'd realized what he'd done, he quickly turned to Tomika, who sat beside him, and made to kiss her as well. 

Tomika stopped him halfway, blocking his forehead with her palm. "Don't even think about it."  

"Right," he said. 

He tried to look as if everything was normal as he stood up to leave the room. Behind him he heard Alicia ask, "What was that all about?" Katie was quick to respond, "Oh you know, Freddy thinks he's the ladies' man and all."

Freddy didn't hear anything after that. Either he's gone temporarily deaf or everyone just ceased to function. He turned left down the hall towards the Hathaway's den where they had the powder room with the nice coral finish and vanilla scented liquid hand soap. He can't help it if he liked the finer things in life. That and he knew Summer's father had a stash of FHM in the cabinet under the sink.

He entered the den and found Summer's ten year-old sister Mackenzie sitting on their white chintz couch. She was watching Dexter's Laboratory on cartoon network. It was that episode where Deedee was teaching Dexter about life outside the rubber gloves.

Mackenzie turned when she heard him come in. She flashed him a pretty albeit inappropriate smile. She couldn't be more different from Summer. Summer's eyes were green, hers were bright blue; Summer had fine straight hair, hers was in natural blond curls; Summer excelled in academics and wouldn't be caught dead near anything that gave too much value to physical sport and apparently Mackenzie's a cheerleader. He didn't exactly know how this happened as there wasn't a cheerleading team in Horace Green prep during their time. A lot has changed since then, he supposed. 

"Hi Freddy," she said as she batted her eyelashes at him.

"Hello Mack, won't be taking long, just going to use the loo over here," he said. He walked across the room towards the lavatory door.

"You can't use it. It's out of order," she explained to him before he could even touch the knob.

"Oh well, I guess I'll just use the one in the kitchen then," Freddy said sounding upset.

"Daddy brought out all those girly magazines from under the sink, if you want them," Mackenzie said with a knowing smile. 

She pointed towards the end table with the sunflower mosaic in front of him. There were two neat stacks of FHM magazines sitting beside each other, each stack about one ruler high.

"Don't be shy Freddy; I know you like to read them." She flashed him a toothy grin again. 

She was really starting to disturb Freddy. He made a mental note to tell Summer that Mackenzie may need some therapy. 

"Not today, Mack," he smiled politely. 

As he passed the table he noticed one of the covers turned up, a familiar face looking up at him. He stopped abruptly and picked up the magazines. It was a cover of Jessica Alba, wearing a black leather cat suit, seated atop a Harley. Her lips were painted a dark mauve and her hair was wavy, her hair swaying about her. It was hot.

"She looks a lot like Katie, doesn't she?" he asked Mackenzie arbitrarily. A small smile played on his lips, being reminded of Katie's face.

"What do you see in Katie?" He could hear the frown in Mackenzie's voice.

"Jessica Alba apparently," he answered absent-mindedly, "I think I'll take this one."

The little girl harrumphed as she sat fully back on the sofa and crossed her arms tightly over her chest. Freddy patted her curly blond hair lightly as he passed her on his way out.

He went back down where he passed earlier and headed for the kitchen. It was empty when he got there so he helped himself to a glass of water before going inside the lavatory. The Hathaway's were probably the only people in the world who had lavatories in every part of the house. 

He placed the magazine atop the counter; Jessica Alba's facing him. She really does look like Katie, he thought. Except Katie's pout wasn't as full. Which is just as well, as Katie's mouth fit perfectly with his the way it is and he couldn't imagine it any other way. She wasn't as bronze as Jessica either, after all, how much sun could you get in New York? And he really didn't think Katie was the type to fuss about her tan.  

He turned the faucet on and splashed some water on his face. He was beginning to frighten himself at the amount of time he spent thinking about Katie. He was going to drive himself mad if he kept going on like this.

There were sounds of shuffling feet outside. The sounds were soon joined with voices. He could tell by the nasal tone and the badass chick attitude that came with it that the voice belonged to Alicia. He pressed his ear to the door to hear her better.

"I mean come on, there's gotta be a little something something going on. They've both been acting strangely for the past week, yo," Alicia said.

"But Katie's smarter than that, she knows Freddy's a player," said the person she was talking to. It was Marta.

"I know our girl is smart, but we both know she's always had a soft spot for that little SOB. I know he's hot and charming and all, but you'd think she'd know better, seeing as she's the one closest to him. But I get the vibe, yo, there were sparks flying across that room. And they ain't innocent sparks," Alicia finished.

"Katie won't give him the time of day!" Marta insisted, "I mean come on, she knows best, out of all of us, how he treats girls he dates. If you could call it dating. He's never taken anyone seriously. I love him like a brother, but I can't deny the fact that he's an asshole when it comes to women. Lay and run, I say."

"Then our girl's in for some heartache," she answered.

"They're not together!" Marta screamed.

"Who's not together?" said another voice. It was Summer who apparently just arrived.

"Freddy and Katie," Alicia filled her in. 

"Alicia suspects there's something going on between them. I say she's just grasping at straws," Marta explained further.

"While I really hate gossiping in general, and gossiping about my best friend even more," Summer started in typical fashion, "I'm afraid Alicia's onto something. I was in her room yesterday and saw Freddy's jacket on her bed. And just the other day, I walked in on them. They weren't doing anything, but I could tell by the guilty looks on their faces that they were doing something before I came. AND I saw a hickey on Katie's shoulder, she says it's a bruise, but I know a hickey when I see one, and she hasn't been around any other guy, or person for that matter, besides Freddy. Freddy is the only one she hangs out with these days!"

Freddy swallowed in a cough when Summer mentioned the hickey. He knew that hickey quite well.

"Add the little kissy incident we had earlier," Alicia provided.

Marta choked on whatever it was she was consuming. "And she we'd him! Earlier, she said something like 'Freddy, we'll get coke, or something, later'"

"Chocs," Summer corrected.

Marta ignored her. "Oh my cow! Freddy and Katie are having an affair!" 

"No," Summer said sounding very distressed, "he'll just break her heart. He'll sleep with her and then throw her aside like an old rag doll."

Marta interrupted, "Do you really think he'll do that? I mean, he loves Katie, she's his best friend; he won't hurt her. And that kiss seemed pretty affectionate, you don't kiss someone you're just screwing like that. Maybe she's like his girlfriend."

"Girlfriend under the covers? Um-hmm, right," Alicia interjected.

"What're we going to do? We should say something to Katie," Marta suggested.

"No, no, no, no, no! Katie wouldn't have that! She's going to kill us if we try to interfere with her business. Trust me, she can handle herself," Summer contradicted.

"Then what do we do?" Marta asked again, the blond girl sounded truly upset by the situation.

Alicia's hostile voice came in. "All I know is, I'ma wring his neck if he does anything to hurt our girl."

Summer and Marta were silent. He heard some movement, someone opened the freezer and some glasses clinked then some footsteps fading away. They probably went back to the living room already.

Freddy found himself sitting on the immaculately white tiled floor. His knees were pulled toward his chest, his arms rested on them. His head was angled upwards, looking at the bright white light. His chest was heaving, in pain, as if someone was squeezing his heart with great force. 

Was that what Katie thought? Is that why she didn't want to tell anyone? Because she thought he was just using her? Is that what she was so afraid of? And since when did his friends think so lowly of him? Honestly, they could give him a little more credit. How dare they think that he would be so heartless and cruel? To Katie, of all people!

Regardless, he couldn't help but feel wretched. He knew what they said was true, though he never really saw it that way. No one's ever told him to his face what an ass he is. Well, actually there was Anna, Pia, Ellen, Monica, Georgia, Alison, Reema, Olivia, Trisha and some other girls, he can't really remember their names, but he never gave much care to what they thought. But it was different coming from his friends' mouths. It hit home.

He got up from his position, with a heavy heart and even heavier feet. He didn't quite know what to do with this new realization. He didn't want to hurt Katie, the way Alicia, Marta and Summer seemed convinced he would. But he didn't trust himself enough that he wouldn't unintentional or not.

He treaded the kitchen and headed for the living room. The girls were still throwing questions and information at each other. Only Katie looked up when he entered the room.

"Girls," he said without looking at her, "I'm going to have to call it a day. So sorry you can't have the honour of my presence for the rest of the afternoon."

Michelle, Eleni and Tomika just mumbled goodbyes, they were still busy reviewing. Alicia, Summer and Marta gave him funny looks. It was Katie who spoke up.

"I'll walk you out," she said as she flashed him that beautiful smile of hers. Alicia raised her eyebrows and cast a furtive look towards Summer and Marta. Summer just shrugged and Marta bit her lip sadly. 

Katie didn't see this. She rose up from her position on the floor and walked away, pushing Freddy along with her. As soon as they were out the door, she wrapped her arms around Freddy in a tight embrace.

"I'm sorry for dragging you here. I knew you wouldn't be able to stand it," she apologized. She went on tiptoes and placed a soft kiss on his cheek to let him know that she wasn't being sarcastic, she was just really sorry.

"You didn't drag me here, I insisted on going, remember? I sort of wanted us to be together," he said sheepishly.

"That's so sweet. You deserve a kiss," she said, her head tilted to the side.

Katie put both hands on his cheeks and pulled him towards her, his mouth crashing on hers. He kissed her back, reluctantly. There was a wave of guilt swimming around his head. He couldn't enjoy the feel of her lips the way he usually did. Alicia's words kept pounding on his head.

Freddy pushed her away gently, breaking their kiss. Katie looked at him strangely. 

"I need to go ahead. I'm going to try and catch Zack at his house," he explained.

She didn't seem to suspect anything when she nodded and let him go. She gave him a quick kiss on the lips before running back inside the house. 

000000000

Freddy banged his fist against Zack's front door, knowing that his friend's parents were away for the weekend and he wouldn't have to worry about being polite and well-mannered and all that crap. A still sleepy Zack came to the door. His usually flat, limp hair was sticking up, as if there was some reverse gravity working on it. His eyes were puffy and some evidence of dried up drool ran down his chin, it looked like peeling paint.

"It's four in the morning!" Zack bellowed.

"You mean four in the afternoon," Freddy informed him.

Zack checked his Monkees watch, which he never took off, ever, and mouthed a silent "Oh." He pulled the door back fully and motioned Freddy to come in. His visitor automatically headed for the den, which was more like Zack's studio. He was an only child, and once his parents' realized that rock n' roll was for real and not just some passing fancy, they lavished him with everything he needed to develop his skills and achieve his dreams. Freddy wished his parents were the same; while they didn't discourage his music career, they didn't support it either.

Freddy made himself comfortable on the black leather La-Z boy that was usually Zack's spot. The latter was still too sleepy to kick him out of his chair, literally, so he fell back on the blue bean bag instead. His hands and feet spread out on the floor making him look like a voodoo doll. His eyes started to flutter shut.

"I didn't come here to watch you nap, you know," Freddy said loudly.

Zack was startled back to awake state. He blinked at Freddy several times before sitting up on the bean bag.

"Fine, what're you doing here?" he asked.

"I wanted to talk," Freddy answered.

"About what?"

"Am I an ass?" Freddy asked straight out.

"Yes," Zack answered curtly.

Freddy threw the nearest thing he could grab, some music sheets.

"What?! You asked a question, I gave you an answer," the other boy said, looking at him incredulously.

"Sorry man. Just a little high strung. What I meant was do you think I treat girls like shit?" Freddy asked again.

"Yes."

Some more music sheets hit Zack's face.

"If you're gonna do that every time I tell you the truth, just get out," Zack told him calmly. He sat back on the bean bag.

Freddy apologized once more.

"S'okay dude," Zack assured him, "now tell me what's wrong? Chick problems?"

Freddy smirked. "How'd you guess?"

"What other problem is there? So who's the lucky lady?"

"Katie," Freddy revealed nonchalantly. 

Zack was speechless for a moment. He sat up slowly, his eyes bulging open. Freddy was reminded of the rising zombies in 'Night of the Living Dead.'

"You mean you have the hots for Katie? Which is completely understandable, the girl's hot. But that's it right?" Zack asked in one breath.

"No. I mean Katie and I are together. Sort of," he added.

"What do you mean sort of? Fucked her yet?"

"No! You make it sound so dirty and uncouth."

"You just fool around?"

"I wouldn't call it fooling around…"

"Are you in love with her?"

Freddy was stunted. He hadn't expected the question. But what surprised him more was the one deciding word that came as an answer. It wasn't even a series of thoughts and insights that built up to a final key. It wasn't even an epiphany. It didn't dawn on him like some sort of great message from beyond. He simply knew. He'd always known, he just needed to be asked.

"Yes."

Author's Notes: I hope this chapter is to your liking g The next chapter will not take as long, I promise. (Give me maybe a week, or less even) But I have to warn you, angst is coming your way. However, never doubt my Freddy/Katie shippiness.

Thank yous are due: **sassy 4-eva** (pretty soon, pretty soon) **Lour **(yes, poor Freddy indeed. I won't be torturing him for much longer!) **Saxaphonebaby** (Hey! I love your fic! Thanks for reviewing mine!) **Sooz** (Yay for F/K fans! And thank you so much for saying that!) **Jan **(Thanks! And info on the Y!group is above) **Kathryn **(I hope you didn't tire of waiting for this!) **Legend and Tempo **(I got your email, and thank you so much for your words!) **tmrwspromise**(I do hope you're alive to see this winks) **chocl8chips **(Katie will come around, if I have to twist her arm) **Blondie0276** (Well, here it is!) **sk8rpunkGCpnay **(this chapter should answer half of your question) **MarySueH8r **(I am quite evil, aren't I?) **Illyria09** (It's totally fine, I commit the same typos all the time!) **wiseoldman**(I've updated! And thank you for consistently reviewing!) **sam**(Thanks! I like that they were united against Amy too, hee!) **Dolly **(Thanks!) **blackandwhiteic**(I'm actually trying very hard to keep this on a PG-13 level) **tarimorwen**(I think it's good she has a bit of self-control) **blublogameira**(I converted someone! Go me!) **Lucifer's Garden **(Glad you liked it :)) **Magdalena Amaretto Watson **(Whew, that was long! Thanks for the review!) **CassandraTheEvil**(Thanks!) **EviL**** PunK NoT **(Oh wow, I have a legion of one :) Now let's hope you don't hate me after this) **Operate **(Thank you dear!) **Lissie**(Well, what can I tell you love?)

**_Don't forget to review!_**


	8. Chapter 8

"What?"  
  
Freddy didn't think it was possible for Zack's eyes to bulge out of its sockets even more. He was slightly worried that it would pop out. And he would have to catch it, which was gross.  
  
"Yes. I'm in love with Katie."  
  
"Are you serious?"  
  
"Am I wearing my funny pants?"  
  
Zack ran his hand over his eyes as if trying to shake off a hallucination. He opened and closed his mouth wordlessly, as if the thoughts he meant to speak kept escaping his mouth.  
  
"Is it really that hard to believe?" Freddy asked with a frown.  
  
"Are you some sort of Freddy clone? You can't possibly be the real Freddy. The real Freddy is off in Prague, somewhere, scoring chicks," Zack mouthed breathlessly.  
  
Freddy threw the last batch of music sheets at him, hitting him squarely on the nose. "You watch too much Alias."  
  
Zack, who was still rather astonished over Freddy's revelation, didn't mind the clutter of music sheets around him. Nor the paper cut that last sheet made on his nose.  
  
"Man, I mean, I knew you had a heart somewhere, but I didn't expect you to find it so soon," he told Freddy as he shook his head.  
  
"Life's full of surprises, isn't it?" he answered with a sigh.  
  
"So, does she know about this?" Zack asked.  
  
"No. In fact, I have a feeling she thinks I just want her for her ass," Freddy mused with an unflappable tone.  
  
"But she's still with you?" Zack asked.  
  
"Last, I checked," he replied.  
  
"That must mean she really likes you," he concluded.  
  
Freddy looked at him hopefully. "You think so?" the insecurity in his voice came out again.  
  
"Man, you know Katie. She's not going to let a guy walk all over her. If you honestly think that's what she thinks, well, you're one lucky guy. She obviously sees something in you," Zack concluded.  
  
Freddy tried to remain cool and bit down the triumphant grin pushing at his teeth. He was so elated at Zack's words. He now knew the euphoric feeling of being filled with candy.  
  
"But," Zack interrupted his little internal celebration with a very grave tone, "don't think you can take that fact for granted always. I mean, if you really want her, you better tell her how you really feel before she has a chance to rethink things."  
  
Freddy didn't try to hide the full scowl that settled on his mouth. "I didn't think about it that way."  
  
"That tends to happen when you're stupid," Zack said without humor.  
  
Freddy settled with throwing him a dirty look as there were no more music sheets to throw. "Well, how should I tell her?"  
  
"I don't know," he shrugged.  
  
"You don't know? I thought you were Mr. Love Advice columnist?" Freddy sneered.  
  
Zack pushed his weight on the bean bag and let out a loud sigh, completely ignoring the mockery in Freddy's tone. "You and I both know I'm not very smooth with the ladies," he said pitifully.  
  
Freddy threw his hands in the air with exasperation. "Oh for god's sake just ask Summer out already!"  
  
Zack looked at him indignantly, "It's not Summer!"  
  
Freddy rolled his eyes. "Yeah, yeah, it's some girl in school who has long black hair and her name starts with the letter S."  
  
"We know lots of girls like that," Zack answered weakly.  
  
"Yeah, like who?" the blond boy challenged.  
  
Zack took a very quick moment to fish a name from his memory. "Sandra."  
  
Freddy raised one eyebrow, looking very much as if a hook was lifting it by the skin, "You'd rather have me believe that you have a crush on our seventy year-old gym teacher who smells like grapefruit than fess up about your crush on Summer? God, you're pathetic."  
  
"She's not seventy! And the grapefruit smell isn't as bad as it used to be," he defended, looking at Freddy in disbelief.  
  
"Dear god, you do have a crush on her!"  
  
"Shut up!"  
  
"Wow, I really, really thought Summer was your type, turns out it was someone who was born in the summer of 1928," Freddy finished with a derisive snort.  
  
"It's not that Summer's so bad," Zach side-tracked.  
  
"So you do like her!" Freddy exclaimed, he waved his finger in the air as if to say "a-ha!"  
  
"That's not what I meant," he defended, looking very much like a plump tomato.  
  
"Oh well, that's too bad then, because I told her you did," Freddy revealed with a straight face.  
  
Zach's eyes turned a rather deathly shade of white and the blood from his face rushed to his feet leaving him very pale and bleach-like. He was the very image of newly starched bed covers.  
  
"You did what?"  
  
"I didn't tell her in that manner of course. I just implied that you wanted to bed her," he supplied with an all too innocent grin.  
  
The stark contrast of Zach's pallid white skin against his jet black hair had never been more obvious than now.  
  
Freddy examined him with false concern. "You could really use some of Marco's bronzer, you're becoming rather sallow. Just be careful about turning orange."  
  
"I am so not in the mood for jokes right now," Zach said in a very low but clear growl that would've scared Freddy if not for the fact that it was Zach he was talking to, and he was very wiry.  
  
Zach's hands were balled up into a fist so tight that his knuckles turned paper white. Now, while Freddy knew he could handle himself well in a hand to hand fight with Zach, he was certain the other boy would be able to get in a good punch or two. And Freddy didn't like to bruise. And he didn't like to get soiled either, the floor was ghastly and the carpet was a breeding ground for dust mites, and he had a feeling this little impending brawl would involve rolling on the ground.  
  
So Freddy, with very good judgment, promptly stood up and in three quick strides reached the door. He cheerily called to Zack without looking back, "I think I shall go and fix my problem with Katie. Thanks for your time Zack, that was really great of you!"  
  
And with that Freddy was out the door and out of the threat of getting dust on his perfectly spiked hair.  
  
0000000000  
  
That night he paced back and forth in his room for so long so that his Doc Martens made dark prints on the sensitive rug beneath him. This love business was much more troublesome than he would've thought. He'd used up more brain power in the last hour thinking about his relationship, a term he had finally settled with after ruminating what it was they had, with Katie and the consequences his recent discovery had on it than he ever did sitting for Trigonometry class.  
  
He was in the middle of considering doing a Lloyd Dobler and stand in front of her house holding up a boom box with its volume shot up to maximum as it played their song –he hadn't decided yet what it will be, perhaps a sexually charged albeit poetic Doors song...or a cheesy eighties love ballad that he hated with all his might but Katie seemed to indulge in—while he was doused in rain water, looking every inch as charming as a blond John Cusack, when the phone rang snapping him out of the little romantic scene playing in his head.  
  
He quickly walked over to his bed and picked up the black cordless hidden beneath the messy folds of his comforter. The little LCD screen flashed that it was Katie on the other end. With a definite sigh, he pushed the talk button.  
  
"Hello love," he said with a smile in his voice.  
  
"Hey, I haven't seen you all day," said she. He could hear her chewing, probably mint. She always chewed something when she talked on the phone. It was a habit of hers that ticked him off and he had asked her several times to give it a rest. And she would always promise him that she would, except she always forgot her promise.  
  
"Katie, drop that mint," he said with a commanding voice that would make it seem that he was asking her to drop her gun.  
  
"Oops, sorry," she answered. The chewing stopped but he could hear the gentle sucking of her tongue that replaced it. It was a much nicer sound.  
  
"I take it you've finished with the MENSA meeting?" he asked with a tiny smile.  
  
"Yes," she answered, purposely ignoring his sarcasm, "I thought you'd like to come over my house."  
  
"Isn't it a little late? Won't your mother mind?" Freddy asked innocently.  
  
"Well, my mother's in a meeting and won't be back until tomorrow morning," she told him with just a hint of suggestion.  
  
"You know Katie, I'm trying very hard to be a gentleman here, but I'm no saint. I don't have that much restraint," he warned her.  
  
"That's okay."  
  
He could hear her breath hitch. He heard the ruffling of cloth, she probably shifted positions. He imagined that she was in bed, twirling the telephone cords around her long and elegant fingers, waiting with abated breath what he was going to say next. He wondered what she was wearing...his chest tightened as his throat threatened to give way from too much gulping that left his mouth dry as the Sahara.  
  
"I'll be there in five."  
  
Author's Notes: Sorry this is such a short chapter! I promise to make the next one count. Thank you so much for the reviews! Please R/R! 


	9. Chapter 9

WARNING: **This particular chapter's rating is R.**

Author's Notes: So sorry for the long wait guys. RL has been a bitch and wouldn't let me off. I might make a PG-13 version of it but I'm too lazy to do that now. It is unbeta-d, all mistakes are mine. Don't forget to review (unless you just want to tell me I suck, in which case, I don't want to hear it. Concrit is welcome though). And there is angst!

Disclaimer: I own nothing except for my big twisted brain.

Chapter Nine:

Freddy wiped the fog outside Katie's window with a gloved hand and peered in. He spied her brown hair, she was lying on her side wrapped in a periwinkle blue duvet with her back to him. He slipped a nickel between his fingers and tapped on her window. She didn't turn and instead bobbed her head up and down. He figured she had her walkman on so he tapped a little louder. She remained where she was. He supposed a lot louder would do the job.

Katie jerked from her position and finally noticed him outside the window. Which was well and good as Freddy was about to freeze his ass off. She jumped off the bed and unlatched the window's lock. The panes were jammed due to the cold and Freddy had to help her push it up all the way. He stumbled inside and placed his hands on her shoulder to keep his balance.

"You could've used the front door," Katie told him with a bemused tone.

Freddy smirked. "Yes, but that wouldn't make me your back door lover, or back window lover, for that matter. Besides, not really used to the front door, only the nice spineless boys use the front door."

"Isn't that true," she answered. She replaced the window locks with two decisive clicks.

It was then that he noticed what she was wearing and he was sorely disappointed. He had pictured her in some flimsy white negligee when they were on the phone, instead what she greeted him was pink flannel pajamas that didn't even cling to any of the right places.

Her hair was tied up in a tight and high ponytail the way she would wear it during summer months; she would always complain that her hair aggravated the blistering heat on her nape yet he wouldn't let her cut it and for some reason she would always indulge him.

She turned and caught him staring at her and took a deep breath. "Hi," she said simply as if they had just crossed each other on the street.

"Hello," he answered with a lopsided grin.

She made the first move. She walked slowly to where he stood, held his hand in hers and pulled him towards her bed. She sat down on the edge of it as he stood before her. She reached up tentatively and tugged the collar of his jacket, pulling his head down to hers.

Her breath was minty and cool as if she had been anticipating to kiss him all night. Her lips were soft but her kiss was fierce; fiercer than ever before, as if telling him just how far she was willing to go. She leaned back on the bed, taking him down with her. They writhed upwards without breaking their kiss until her head was nestled on the white pillows.

She had not turned off her walkman and he could vaguely hear the music she was listening to earlier, _"Before you slip into unconsciousness, I'd like to have another kiss…"_

He smiled against her mouth. Some women react to Barry and Marvin, Katie reacts to Jim.

"What?" she asked, staring at the smile on his face.

"I was just wondering what you were listening to earlier," he said with a knowing look. Her cheeks tinted pink and he couldn't help but kiss her again. More intense this time.

He pushed his weight on her entirely as if wanting to eradicate all semblance of space between them. She responded in kind, placing her hands on his lower back, and pushing herself against him, letting him know that she wanted to feel exactly what it was that she does to him.

"You smell so good, Kates," he groaned as he buried his head in the juncture between her neck and her shoulder.

He loosened the first button of her pajama and pushed back the cloth, wanting to get more skin. His fingers crept inside, he knew this route so well. He traced the lace edge of her bra tenderly before pushing the cup down and palming the full weight of her breasts. She groaned in surprise but didn't make any attempt to stop him. His lips found its way back to her mouth, the slithering of her tongue smoldered his entire body.

"Baby, I…" his words spilled into her mouth.

"What do you want? Tell me what you want," she said beside his ear, her voice low and husky.

He couldn't find the words, not with her and her smell engulfing him. So he took her hand and pulled it down to his throbbing erection. He shut his eyes and let a growl out as her fingers grazed his hardness. He wanted her. He wanted her like he wanted air.

Biting her lip, Katie started to rub him tentatively through the warm wool of his trousers.

"Baby…Kates…that's good…oh…don't stop, please don't stop," he spoke, barely aware of the words.

She rubbed him some more before she gave him a light, soft squeeze. He wasn't going to last too long if this continues. With all his strength, he pulled her hand up and away from where he wanted it most.

"Did I do something wrong?" Katie voiced, fear reflected in her eyes.

"No, Katie, nothing. You are perfect, so perfect. I just, I don't want to come this early," he told her in all honesty. She blushed at his words.

He shifted so that he was half on her and half on the bed. He continued to unbutton her pajamas until there were none left open, his gaze unwavering on her eyes. He pushed it down on one side, revealing the breast he had exposed earlier, her nipples pink and taut against the cool air. He leaned his head down and touched his tongue to the rosebud.

"My beautiful, beautiful Katie," he sighed before taking her tit into his mouth, covering it in moist, warm air. She buckled under him, her breaths rasping and her hands entangled in his hair. She hooked her left leg around him, her heel resting at the end of his spine, sending a delicate tingle to his neck.

This was right. They were right. And he wanted to let her know before everything happened. He lifted his head slightly and looked straight at her misty brown eyes echoing with the pleasure he was giving her.

"I love you."

He said those three words once before. To a cheerleader named Amanda Sykes. She was blonde, blonder than he was, she had green eyes and she always smelled of pungent strawberries and she had full pink lips and the biggest pair of breasts he had ever held onto. He was holding onto those round beautiful orbs that spilled in his hands, ready to devour them, and she, well, she was hesitant. So he said those three words and she let him. The next day he told her that they were just too different. Maybe they could just be friends? She cried and hit him with fisted hands, not that they hurt him any. Whenever they passed each other on the hallways, she would have a pained look on her face. He tried to, but somehow he never understood.

Until this moment.

She stiffened.

"What?"

His voice lost its vindication. "I said I love you. I do, Katie, I'm in love with you."

Her eyes lost its haze, staring at him wide and alert. "Freddy, what are you talking about?"

"I thought you knew, the way I've always known. You're the only girl whose happiness I thought of, I've cared for. The only one who makes me vulnerable. The first friend I made, the one who lasted. The one who never hated me for more than ten seconds. It was inevitable I'd fall for you the moment you stepped into Miss Durnham's class in first grade with that Simpson's lunchbox and your hair tied up with a red bow." He breathed heavily, the words flowing from him.

She looked at him with impassive eyes. She pulled her pajama around her, covering her exposed flesh. "I didn't know."

"Well, now you know," he answered, suddenly feeling embarrassed. And somewhat betrayed.

A tear fell down one side of her cheek. She pulled her knees against her chest and buried her head in them as she sobbed quietly.

"Katie?"

"Freddy, I think you should leave."

"Why?"

"I'm not sure…I'm not so sure if I feel the same way."

And with those words, Freddy got off her bed. His legs felt heavy and wobbly but he managed to reach the window. The locks seemed tighter as he unlatched them. The night air punished him with its coolness. Frozen tears built up behind the bags of his eyes, stinging his cheeks. His heart beat loudly, so loudly as if it wanted to beat its way out of his chest and for a moment he imagined what it would look like dripping red against the white of snow. _Like her lips on her alabaster face._ He choked. He hadn't realized that the tears had thawed and now etched wet blotches on his face. Somehow I love you always brought pain.

A/N's: Thanks so much to my reviewers. You guys seriously kept me going. Go you!

Thank you to xobadrhymer03, CassandraTheEvil, Illyria09, BlackFloyd03, Operate, Meara, cheerangel07, audi katia, Lour, Magdalena Amaretto Watson, beatrix, Kara, JewelKitten, SITboyShippo, Korine, demon gal, HoneyBee1, Chelsea lacey, sarah, DCyberFicFan, The Drifter, a.k., K, ketchupgurl, Paradigm, rust red, Slacker Mentality, Lucifer's Garde, miss mills, TheGoodGirl, Goody2Shoes34, Legend and Tempo, InAnMMMBop and Brittany. Phew, hope I didn't miss anyone.

Oh, and am pimping my one shot fic entitled Au Contrahair, here on ffnet as well. It's not getting as much love L


	10. Author's Note

**This is just an Author's Note, it is not a chapter**

**An Author's Note:**

Hello everyone! I am so sorry for leaving things like this for such a long time. I am actually writing the tenth and eleventh chapter right now and promise to have them posted by next Friday (yes, the last two chapters). Again, I apologize to the people following this fanfic but I will do you right. Hopefully the chapters will not disappoint. Also I am working on another SoR WiP.

Darcy


	11. Chapter 10

**Disclaimer:** Nothing is mine. Just my words.

**Author's Notes:** Again I apologize that this took so long. Here is Chapter ten. THANK YOU SO MUCH TO EVERYONE WHO REVIEWED! I love you guys, I am overwhelmed by the response I've gotten so far because I know we're such a tiny fandom. Just one more chapter guys. It's almost completed so it should be posted by Friday. Also, I know there are people who read this who are Freddy/Summer shippers (and you don't know how flattered I am that you guys would even touch this, I tend to be OTP-ish myself!), but guys where are my Freddy/Katie fics? Seriously, I want some really good Freddy/Katie fics. Please, please, please write me some! And without further ado:

**Chapter Ten**

He couldn't believe they were playing at a stupid children's party. And it was bleeding Summer Hathaway's fault. Their blood-hungry, shrewd, manipulative and, in addition, nepotic manager booked the band to play at her younger cousin's ninth birthday. Freddy thanked the Gods that the cake was at least good. Someone up there must still somehow like him.

Freddy wiggled on a short blue plastic chair and tried to find a more comfortable position, something apparently impossible when a person almost six feet tall tried to sit on a chair meant for midgets (or children, all the same). So he acquiesced to his inevitable fate of cramps. He splayed his arms and head dramatically on the matching blue plastic table in front of him. He squint his eyes at the rays burning his skin. Whoever thought outdoor picnics were a good idea had never actually been outdoors and never got acquainted with a giant ball of violent flame called the sun.

"Yo, Katie, come sit down here." That was Leonard, beckoning Katie to the seat beside him on Freddy's table. Yes, it was his table; he managed to write down his name on one of the table's legs using a lead Hello Kitty pencil he snuck from one of the party favors.

Katie shuffled her feet awkwardly before succumbing to Leonard's manic waving. He fervently wished that Leonard would be struck down by lightning. She took a seat on the chair across him. Zack, who sat to Freddy's left, gave him a surreptitious glance.

Katie had a small smile on her chapped lips, a fresh sheen of sweat on her forehead giving her face an iridescent glow. She wore a black tank top that hinted the tiniest bit of cleavage and a short denim skirt that came down to mid-thigh. And even though he wanted to banish her from the table, he couldn't help but stare at her because the girl looked hot.

"Hey, how are you guys?" she asked nervously. And Freddy thought, good, you should be nervous, you super hot, cold, unscrupulous, heart-breaking She-devil.

"I feel like my heart was pulled out of me using a rusty bread knife while a thousand elephants played hopscotch on my head," Freddy deadpanned.

Leonard raised an elegant eyebrow, Zack choked on his Dr. Pepper and Katie flushed red.

"I think, I um, I'll go eat with Marta, um, need to catch up," she mumbled, standing up so quickly that the chair tipped over and fell flat on its back. She rushed away, not once looking at Freddy.

Leonard stood up as well. "Good idea, I think I'll go eat with Marta too. Give the girl something to smile about." He winked at the two guys at the table impishly and followed Katie to Marta's table.

As soon as they were out of earshot, Zack spoke. "You're not taking this too well."

"I will not talk about this in such an undignified setting," the blond boy said as he eyed one orange giraffe balloon tied to Zack's chair with disdain.

"Dude, you've got to talk to me about it. I've been keeping this secret for almost a week now, man, it's been niggling at the back of my head and I have to talk about it, man, if you don't talk to me about it, I can't promise that I won't blab to someone. It's a complex, I won't be responsible for my actions," Zack explained sounding incredibly stoned.

"Since when did you become a woman?"

"I told you, it's a complex."

"Complex my ass; tell me, are you wearing frilly pink panties right now?"

"It says a lot about the current state of your emotions when you prefer to talk about my underwear rather than address the issue of Katie," Zack said.

"Don't get smart with me, Mooneyham. I'm the one who gets smart with you, not the other way around," Freddy answered.

"Seriously, man, she's just a girl, I know she's Katie, but she's just a girl. There are many hot girls out there. Michelle's looking pretty fine today," Zack prodded.

"You sick bastard. Michelle's my cousin."

"Really?"

"I can't believe I was the one popping Ritalin when I was ten."

"Why are you so prickly?" Zack asked irately.

"Who the fuck uses the word prickly?"

"Will you stop changing the subject?" The raven haired boy was already gripping the edges of the table so tight that his knuckles turned white.

Freddy continued to speak in a petulant manner. "I wasn't the one who brought up prickliness and the despicable image of making out with my cousin."

It was at that opportune moment that Michelle and Eleni passed by their table from the juice bar.

"Ew, Freddy, please tell me I'm not the cousin you're referring to!" Michelle hissed as she slammed her fist on their table in disgust.

"Don't look at me, it was Zack's idea."

Zack punched Freddy's arm in retaliation.

Eleni jumped in. "That's horrible Zack! Michelle's a slut, not retarded!"

"Hey!" Michelle chimed looking terribly affronted.

"Well, you are."

"Not a slut, just not picky!"

Freddy huffed impatiently. "Let's just cut this little chit-chat short before I develop a tumor. Move along dear cousin before I decide to tell Aunt Helen about your little revelation."

Michelle showed Freddy a contemptuous raspberry before walking off in big, angry stomps to find a table.

"She's just a girl, man," Zack said so suddenly. Freddy turned to look at him expecting a scowl but he was just staring far off into space. A space occupied by one Summer Hathaway.

"She's not just a girl," Freddy answered.

"You know you're an asshole, right?"

"How does that factor into the conversation?" the drummer asked agitatedly.

"Because after all is said and done, she's still just a girl."

Freddy smacked the side of Zack's head lightly. Okay, maybe not.

"Do you have to try and maim me every time I give you advice?" the guitarist retorted rather miffed.

"Stop it with the cryptic bullshit."

"Sorry, man, I forgot your IQ was below human."

"Piss off," Freddy said, uncharacteristically sublime.

Freddy was disappointed to see that Zack had once again stopped concentrating on him and his very crucial dilemma and was now waving frantically back to Summer; because even though he'd never say it out loud, Freddy really wanted to talk about "it."

But before Zack went off to Summer's side, he leaned down to Freddy and said softly. "You should've stayed man. Should've made her believe you."

And Freddy really hated Zack at that moment for giving him more things to think about. Thinking did not suit his skin.

At around seven o' clock all the children had finally left (much to Freddy's relief) and the celebrant locked away somewhere where the adults can ignore him.

Summer's uncle was one of those folks who fancied themselves British and indulged underage children in their continuous quest for alcoholic drinks. The school of rock (minus Dewey who had a dinner date with Miss Mullins) was now congregated in the Hathaway's pool house and rewarded with bourbon, vodka, wine for the lame ass girls and beer for the plebeian type, for their job well done.

Freddy was sandwiched between an alarmingly inebriated Billy and an increasingly smelly Frankie on the couch. And he really did try to have fun, because free alcohol was always fun, and inebriated Billy was always fun as well, but he kept thinking that he could not remember a time when he was absolutely pissed and did not curl up to Katie's vanilla smell; couple or not.

"My milkshake brings all the boys to the barn!" Billy sang giddily.

"I believe the correct lyric is yard," Frankie interjected.

"Frankie you're so stupid! It's barn! Because milkshakes come from milk which comes from cows and cows are found in a barn!" Billy reasoned as he waved a glass of beer around (he would in no way drink it from a can or the bottle as that is tacky) and some of the drink spilled itself on Freddy's cashmere sweater.

Freddy was about to insult Billy's obvious lack of comprehension skills when someone stumbled on fancy boy's lap and the beer was wasted on Freddy's jeans.

"No, Billy, it's YARD, because you sell stuff in your yard and she's like, selling milkshakes!"

Freddy's eyes widened. "What the hell, Katie, are you drunk?"

But before she could answer Katie fell back down and landed right in Freddy's arms.

Billy prodded her with a Hello Kitty pencil. "Katie, wake up, we're not finished talking!"

"Is that my pencil?" Freddy said as he eyed the pencil with recognition.

"It fell from your pocket earlier." Billy returned his attentions to the slumbering girl on Freddy's lap and continued to poke her.

Freddy wearily snatched the pencil away from him and hooked his arms around Katie's knees and waist.

"She's wasted. I'm taking her home," he said with finality.

He stood up and wondered just how drunk Katie could be if she was able to wrap her arms tightly around his neck. He tried not to smell her. Tried being the operative word.

He leaned her nimble body on the hood of the car while he fumbled for his keys in his jeans pocket. He finally found them along with buried beneath some yellow candy wrappers and opened the door to the passenger side. He guided Katie in and locked the seatbelt haphazardly across her lap before shutting the door and running to the other side.

They drove silently with Katie's gentle snores the only sound to be heard. They've crossed the second Starbuck's on Seventh Avenue when she spoke.

"I was trying to catch your eye tonight and you wouldn't look at me. And then Michelle said she made the best pina coladas and I finished it all."

Ahh, so Michelle, his beloved cousin was responsible for this. He made a mental note to tell Aunt Helen to lock their bar.

He was about to tell Katie how stupid it was to take drinks from Michelle of all people. But when he turned to glance at her she was snoring once more. And for a moment he imagined how pleasant it would be to hear the rhythmic breeze coming from her mouth so near his ear.

Freddy pulled up in front of her apartment building a couple of minutes later. He turned to Katie and gently shook her shoulder.

"Hey, you think you can stand?" Freddy whispered, afraid that if he spoke any louder he might cause her a headache.

She just nodded her head weakly.

They managed to get to her door on the third floor without incident, his arms around her waist as she leaned her head on his shoulders.

"Where's your key?" he asked when they got to her door.

"Wanna search me?" she slurred. There was a dreamy smile on her face that made Freddy want to forget everything and just kiss her senseless.

"Katie…" he began to say but she pulled him by his sweater and his lips crashed on hers. He could feel her again and he hadn't realized just how much he missed her until that time. She had the taste of pina coladas in her mouth, sweet and intoxicating. Her hands began to roam underneath his shirt and he reluctantly pulled away.

"We need to get you into bed," he said quietly. Eyes still closed as he tried to recall the feel of her mouth on his, her shallow breathing near his chin not nearly enough.

"Fine," she drawled. She slipped her hand to her back pocket and brought out a single key attached to a Power Puff Girls keychain that he remembered giving her for Christmas when they were twelve.

She slipped the keys between his fingers. He was clumsily fitting the key into the keyhole when he felt her nuzzling against his neck.

"You're sweater feels so soft," she said with a giggle.

"Darling, if you keep doing that, we'll never make it to your bed."

"Will you stay with me? My mom's not here and it's scary," she said, looking up at him beneath the curve of her lashes, her lips puckered and swollen still from their kiss.

"Okay," he said breathily.

They got inside and limped straight to Katie's room. He helped her to bed and once she was lying down straight, proceeded to take off her shoes.

"Freddy," she whispered in the dark.

"Yeah?"

"You didn't have to lie to me."

He was stunted. He turned around and faced her, trying to make out her features in the dark and saw that her eyes were closed but he knew she was still awake because her breath was hitching and she had a tear coming out of her left eye.

"Lie to you about what?"

"Would've gone through with it. Always wanted you to be my first. I just, wished, I wasn't just one of your girls," she mumbled incoherently.

And he remembered a time when he told her his little tricks and he laughed at how easy girls were and she didn't.

He choked out his reply. "I wasn't lying to you, love."

But she had already fallen asleep. He got into bed next to her, but did not take off his shoes. He slipped an arm around her waist and his other hand stroked her hair lovingly. He let himself drift off to sleep but before she could even stir in the morning light, he was gone.

**A/N:** Hope you guys like this chapter. Please review!


	12. Chapter 11

**Disclaimer:** Nothing is mine.

**Author's Notes:** It took a while but it's here. I'm not sure it's my best but I hope I was able to give this story a closure it deserved. Further notes at the end.

**Chapter Eleven:**

Amanda Sykes was the ultimate popular girl. She was blonde, she was pretty, she had legs that went on for days, she had perfectly engineered breasts, she was rich and she was as dull as the Pope was Catholic.

She was currently surrounded by three insipid chits also known as her friends talking about probably the most inane things in the world during study period. Or so Katie thought.

"He came over to my house and stood at my front step and actually apologized," she said lowly with a bemused tone.

Katie pretended that she was heavily consumed by her Chemistry problem set, in complete denial that she was actually eavesdropping on the conversation of four of the dumbest human beings that ever graced the planet.

"I don't know, maybe he was trying to get into your pants again?" brainless bint number one suggested.

Amanda shook her head thoughtfully. "I don't think so; otherwise he'd take me somewhere completely, like, romantic or something. He came over to my house in broad daylight and he didn't even ask if he could come in. I opened the door and he stood there with a rose. Handed it to me and he said sorry for being a complete asshole and that I never deserved anything he did to me."

"What else did he say?" brainless bint number two asked.

Katie shifted in her seat as if trying to find a more comfortable position. So she could hear her better. She wanted to light herself up in flames, this is seriously low.

"Well, he said that he can't take back what he did. But he promised that he would never do it again to anyone else," Amanda paused as if debating whether or not to continue, "and then he offered to clean up all those offensive graffiti messages about me on the boys' bathroom doors. Which is, well, strange, but actually kind of sweet."

Katie leaned forward a bit, the front legs of her seat teetering along with her, completely abandoning all pretenses of being a morally righteous and respectful person who didn't listen in on other people's private conversations.

"Do you think he meant it?" the third brainless bint quipped as she shoved a handful of popcorn in her mouth.

Amanda took a moment to answer before a small smile appeared on her mouth. "I think he really did. He was always so cocky but there was just something so sad about him yesterday." She shook her head ruefully, her golden blond hair making soft brushing sounds against her shoulder. "What do you know? Freddy Jones actually has a heart."

Katie promptly fell face forward off her chair in a loud thud.

…

"Dude, I'm so tired," Zack lamented dramatically as he adjusted his sun visor for the umpteenth time.

"What are you blabbering on about? All you've done the entire day is sit there and consume a dangerous amount of hotdogs," Freddy said, then belatedly added, "if you fart in my car I will have you murdered."

"It's not that easy, okay? My lower lumbar is sensitive and it can really get uncomfortable when I've sat up for too long and I have hyperacidity so I need to eat regularly," Zack replied as he delicately rubbed his stomach as if to make a point.

Freddy gripped the steering wheel tightly his knuckles turned white. "And you're supposed to be the lead guitarist of our band? We'll never make it to the cover of Rolling Stone at this rate!"

"Well you're the one who dragged me out here! It's not like I forced you to take me," the black haired boy said.

"And I'm fully regretting that decision now. I should've brought Billy. I have it on good authority that he is a fascinating companion during road trips. Lawrence told me that he has the most delightful little anecdotes about some New York city landmarks. Meanwhile you're a useless turnip and I've lost a lot of money feeding you," Freddy answered.

"You're just being mean now!"

"Oh what are you going to do? Are you going to start crying?"

"Maybe I will and then you'll be really sorry!"

A silence extended between the two boys for a few minutes before Freddy said, "Zack, I think it might be best for our friendship if we spend some time apart after today."

Zack nodded and scratched the back of his neck. "Yeah, I think I'm gonna go like, make out with some chicks after this."

"Yeah, you do that."

…

Katie made her way inside her homeroom class on a bright and sunny Friday morning and sat in her regular seat at the left corner on the back row. She looked at the desk beside her with a frown; it had been empty for five days now.

She shifted her head when she saw Summer walking towards her, holding two cups of coffee, one on each hand, and deliberately ignoring her seat in the front row. The shorter girl sat down on Freddy's usual chair and put one coffee cup on Katie's desk as she slowly slipped her own.

"Two sugars, one cream," Summer said with a smile. "You don't look like you've been getting much sleep lately. I figured you could use the picker upper."

"Thanks," Katie said as she carefully sipped the hot drink. "Hey, Summer, have you heard from Freddy? He hasn't been to school in a week. I'm kind of getting worried."

Summer shrugged. "I thought you might know. Zack hasn't been around either, haven't you noticed?"

She could only mutter an "oh." She hadn't really noticed and that kind of made her feel like an asshole.

"You shouldn't worry so much," Summer said in that endearingly haughty tone of hers, "they're probably just off smoking cannabis in some debauched teenage wasteland."

Katie couldn't help but giggle, it would be just like Summer to call it 'cannabis.' "I don't think so, I very well know that neither Zack nor Freddy ever actually smoked pot or did drugs," she said with a shake of her head.

Summer whipped her head so fast Katie was afraid the girl was going to suffer an aneurysm. "Zack? Seriously? But he always looks so high?"

The bassist threw her head back and laughed, the first honest to goodness laugh she'd had in the past week. She took another sip of her coffee before speaking. "You know Freddy and Zack, they like to come off as badass rebel rock stars, but we all know deep inside those two are just a couple of straight-laced mama's boys. I mean, seriously Summer, have you seen Zack's GPA?"

Summer twiddled with her fingers as a small smile played on her face. "Yeah, they're both good guys really. I just give them too much of a hard time."

"You wouldn't be Summer if you didn't give people a hard time," Katie teased.

"You know me too well," Summer answered with a bat of her eyelashes. She tucked her dark mane behind her ears as she rushed forward to her next words. "You know, you can just call Freddy if you're worried about him. I still bet Zack's with him."

Katie fiddled with a lock of her hair and looked to the ground. "I would, but I'm kind afraid he's not going to answer. We're sort of in between a fight."

Summer rolled her eyes. "What did he do now?"

The brunette bassist couldn't help the sardonic laughter that came out of her mouth. "That's the thing, you know. He didn't do anything!" She sighed dejectedly before crushing the cup in her hand, the crackling sounds that the Styrofoam made searing the peaceful air. "And I was pretty sure I didn't do anything wrong either, but somehow I still feel like it's my fault."

That was when Summer noticed the slight tint of red in her eyes and small dip on her cheeks and she felt like such a terrible friend for being so immersed in herself not to see how much Katie had been suffering for the last few days. She reached over and put on a hand on the other girl's cheek. "Sweetie, is there something going on? Something you want to tell me?"

Katie looked sideways as if to make sure that no one else was listening to them before dipping her head and whispered earnestly, "I started it you know, I came onto him." She sounded like she wasn't sure whether to laugh or cry. "And when it got too serious I bailed on him. And I think I really hurt him, Summer. And it sucks because I just really miss him and I want my best friend back."

Summer had a million questions inside her head. Katie just basically admitted to her that there was something going on between her and Freddy. She wanted so much to ask how it started, when, how far have they gone, is he as good as everyone says he is and all the gory details. But she held back. Summer was full time over achiever and part time gossip hound, but at this very moment she was Katie's friend and that always came first.

"Have you tried talking to him?" Summer asked carefully, as if afraid that just one wrong word would have Katie bursting into tears.

Katie shook her head. "I'm not sure what to say. I'm afraid I'm just going to make things worse."

The corner of Summer's lips lifted up to an encouraging smile. "Just tell him the truth, whatever it is. I don't know a lot about Freddy but I've always known you're his best girl. He can't stay mad at you for too long."

"You think so?"

Summer nodded. "Just be honest, and everything will work itself out."

…

Freddy expertly maneuvered his car into a halt. They were parked outside a quaint white house with blue paned windows and a red door in a small suburban village somewhere in the middle of New Jersey. He took a deep breath before waking up Zack who passed out the moment they crossed Hudson River. Some road trip buddy he turned out to.

"Wake up, Zack. Seriously, how many hours of sleep do you need?" Freddy said as he poked Zack's ribs.

"Wahhh," he answered smartly.

"This is the last one, now remember what we talked about? The moment you see her bring out something akin to a sharp object you-"

"Drive back home and tell your mother you loved her."

Freddy backhanded the side of his head. "No you dimwit, go out there and be my backup. God, I really should've brought Billy."

He continued to mutter expletives under his breath as he got out of the car up until he came up the front door. He quickly pressed the doorbell, eager to talk to anyone who was not Zack, even if it was a potentially homicidal ex-fling.

The door opened and he was greeted by possibly the most terrifying, blood-curdling, testicle shrinking visions he has ever seen. There she was; black hair, nose ring and arm sleeve tattoos with a toddler hanging off her hip.

"Dear god, please tell me that is not my child."

The girl, who despite all appearances was barely eighteen years of age, gave a throaty laugh before smacking her lips together and giving a resounding 'No.' Freddy resisted from making a sign of the cross and falling on his knees to thank the heavens.

"So Freddy Jones, what brings you across state lines?"

Freddy composed himself and managed to not look so horrified to deliver his well practiced speech. "I just came here to say that I'm sorry. I know it may be a little late and you've probably moved on but in any case, if I've caused you any hurt or pain I am deeply, truly sorry and I really wish I could take it all back."

She promptly laughed in his face. What can he say; Megan had always been a bit different from his usual fling.

"Oh Freddy, you are still a little boy in so many ways. I'm sure you've broken a lot of hearts in your ripe age but trust me mine wasn't one of them," she said with a good-natured smile.

"Right, well, you know I was doing this kind of twelve-step thing and well, I feel really stupid right now," Freddy said sheepishly.

The baby in Megan's arms gurgled as if to further cause Freddy embarrassment. Megan cooed at the child and tenderly put a bottle of milk in his mouth, which seemed to have calmed the small child.

"Don't worry about it, Jones," Megan said as she turned her attention back to him. "But it's good, you know, that you feel this need to apologize. I mean I'm sure a lot of the other girls you've tricked into sleeping with you weren't as worldly as I was at sixteen."

"Make me feel better, why don't you," Freddy said sardonically.

"You're still such a rich boy nance," she teased, "for what it's worth thank you. But don't feel so bad about me, I knew very well what we were and I wasn't some wide-eyed virgin when we happened."

Freddy managed a rugged smile. "At least there's one ex who doesn't hate my guts."

She laughed again.

"So who's this young fellow anyway?" he asked.

"Yeah, remember that stupid bastard of an ex-boyfriend? The one I was trying to get over?" Megan asked.

Freddy nodded, mildly remembering the drunken night they had after she met him at one of their gigs and the way she whined about her cheating college boyfriend.

"Yeah, we actually got back together for a while after you and me went kaput and I guess you can tell what happened next," she said casually.

"Where's he now?" he asked rather curiously.

"Who knows? He bounced after finding out I was pregnant. But it's for the best, Lee and I are much better off without him and the parentals and I get along better now," she said happily, cooing sweetly at her little boy. "I'm back at school, I don't drink anymore and I'm just focusing on mine and my baby's future. This is honestly the best I've felt in a really long time."

Freddy smiled. "Well, I'm glad things are working out for you."

He was about to bid her farewell when she interrupted him. "You know, Freddy, you weren't so bad. When we were together, you were really nice to me. I needed it at the time."

He smiled. "I'm glad to hear that I was something somewhat good to you."

"So who's the girl?" she said with a knowing look.

Megan had always been smarter and more intuitive than people gave her credit for. "An old friend."

"Well, she's a lucky girl," Megan said.

Freddy spread out his arms cockily. "Of course she is! I'm ridiculously good-looking and I have an impressive trust fund!"

Megan laughed at his antics. "Well, go get her then!"

…

Katie pushed through the crowd as the final bell rang. She felt antsy and still a bit intimidated but she was Katie Brown and nothing ever fazed her. She wasn't going to be a spineless, indecisive chit. She was going to hunt Freddy Jones down and tell him exactly how she feels.

She thrust the humongous oak doors of her school open and flew down the stone steps with grace before she crashed against a hard chest and two strong arms swiftly caught her before she ricocheted backwards.

"In a bit of a mad rush, aren't we?"

She couldn't mistake that cocky patrician accent anywhere.

"You're kind of late for class," she said breathlessly and she immediately wanted to kick herself. Sure, nothing every fazed her. Uh-huh.

Freddy smirked at her, obviously amused at her uncharacteristic shyness. "I'm not here for class, I'm here for you," he said without missing a beat.

Katie reddened at his intense gaze but she stopped herself short of swooning. She was Katie, kick-ass bassist, unofficial den mother of the boys of the School of Rock and the one girl trusted to reel in Freddy Jones' troublesome ass from danger since they were eight years old. She was going to say what was on her mind.

"I miss you."

Well, that part was true but wasn't exactly what she was planning to say.

He smirked at her. She wanted so much to wipe that smirk off his face with her fist. But then he goes and says something that made her speechless.

"I love you."

"Darn it Freddy, stop saying that!"

He only chuckled at her flustered countenance. "I can't help it, I love you."

Katie took a deep breath and closed the tiny space between them, completely oblivious of the several students who had already made their way to the courtyard and were conspicuously watching them. She placed a hand on chest and another one on his cheek. "Please, just don't say it."

Freddy took her hand that was resting on his check and placed it above his heart. "But I mean it Katie. There's no lying, there's no tricks, and I just simply love you."

Katie looked up at him from beneath her tired lashes. "I know, at least I think I know. But it hurts to hear it because I'm still not sure if I can just say it back just yet."

It hurt to hear it although he didn't honestly think that she would just fall into his arms and ravish him. "That's, well, terrible really. But I don't want to not know you. I hate not being able to talk to you and not being able to call you in the middle of the night when I can't sleep. I can't imagine not having you in my life. And it sucks that we can't be more but we can go back to being just friends, if that's what it takes."

She shook her head and suddenly all fight went out of him. His hand loosened its hold on hers but then refused to let go. "I wasn't done, Freddy," she said with a hopeful smile, "the thing is, I've known you for so long and I know you so well. I know the Freddy who brings me soup when I have a cold and lends me his coat even if it means he'll freeze his ass off and knows just the right thing to say to make me smile when I'm sad. But then there's that other Freddy. Freddy the playboy who makes sexist jokes and sleeps around without considering other people's feelings and possibly needs to get tested. That guy? I hate that guy."

Freddy put his arms around her waist and kissed his forehead against hers. "That guy's gone Katie, I promise you."

"I want to believe you, Freddy. I really do. I don't want to go back to being just friends, I think I've let you in too deep now and I can't just go back. I think, what I'm trying to say is, I'm not there yet. But I know I'll get there, if you can just be patient with me. Will you wait for me?" She looked up at him with hopeful eyes, her pretty mouth curving into a small pout. Sometimes, he thought, she was made of pure evil.

He put a finger under her chin. "On three conditions."

She furrowed her eyebrows in askance.

"One," he started, "I get to tell you I love you and you can't flinch or tell me to shut up."

A small laugh gurgled out of her mouth but she nodded nonetheless.

"Two, I get to hold you, and hug you and kiss you whenever I want, where ever I want and no matter the audience," he said sternly.

She considered it for a second before she said, "I think I might regret this but, okay. So what's the last condition?"

He smiled smugly at her. "Third, I refuse to have sex with you, no matter how much you beg me, until you can say you love me back. I'm not easy you know?"

She threw her head back as the most egregious of laughter came out of her. "I think I can manage that last one."

He hugged her tightly to him before swiftly whispering to her ear, "Just don't take too long, okay?"

"Just kiss me already," she said before crushing her mouth to his.

…

Two months, three weeks, five days, 4 hours and twenty-eight minutes later, Katie said I love you too. Freddy made her say it seven more times within the next hour.

**The End**

**End Notes:** Thank you so much to everyone who has ever reviewed. If you're still around to read this, bless you. It took a while, but I finished it and I'm glad I did. I don't think I'll write any more Freddy/Katie fics after this. I still love this pairing but I don't think I have it in me any more to write about them. If you would still like to read some of my fics please feel free to go to my other account where I write Flame of Recca and Harry Potter fanfiction. My other fandom name is Mia Fitzpatrick. There I came out, haha. I thought of fusing the accounts and transferring this fic there but I figured I kind of would be okay with this here.

Again, thank you all so much. Freddy/Katie forever! :D


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